USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2)
USS Blue Ridge underway, 6 October 1943
| |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | Blue Ridge |
Namesake | Blue Ridge Mountains |
Builder | Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Kearny, New Jersey |
Launched | 7 March 1943 |
Acquired | 15 March 1943 |
Commissioned | 27 September 1943 |
Decommissioned | 14 March 1947 |
Stricken | 1 January 1960 |
Honours and awards |
|
Fate | Sold for scrap, 26 August 1960 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Appalachian-class command ship |
Displacement | 13,910 long tons (14,133 t) |
Length | 459 ft 3 in (139.98 m) |
Beam | 63 ft (19 m) |
Draft | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
Speed | 16.6 knots (30.7 km/h; 19.1 mph) |
Complement |
|
Armament |
|
USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2) was an Appalachian-class amphibious force flagship in the United States Navy. She was named for the southeasternmost ridge of the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia and North Carolina.
Commissioning
Blue Ridge was built by the
Service history
1943-1944
Following trial runs in
On the night of 19/20 October 1944 Blue Ridge and her formation stood through the swept part of
The morning of 26 October 1944, Blue Ridge helped fight off five enemy bombers that attacked her formation. That afternoon she helped drive away three more enemy bombers. Several bombs fell in the vicinity during this action, but only one exploded close enough to shake the command ship. As she kept watch off the Leyte beaches, the three-pronged attack of the
Blue Ridge led the San Fabian Attack Force from
1945
On 13 January 1945 Chief Storekeeper H. G. Williamson reported on board Blue Ridge. He was an escaped prisoner of war, having been captured by the Japanese on 18 January 1942, while attached to the Naval Air Station at Cavite. He had escaped on 15 March 1942 and had remained in hiding near San Fabian since then. Williamson was returned to duty at the Naval Base and Blue Ridge departed Lingayen Gulf on 15 January 1945. The ship continued to serve as Vice Admiral Barbey's flagship at San Pedro Bay and Subic Bay until 8 June 1945. Two days later, Blue Ridge was underway for Saipan and then to Pearl Harbor when she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Jerauld Wright, Commander Amphibious Group Five on 30 June 1945. She hauled down his flag on 20 July and entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for alterations and repairs.
Blue Ridge departed Pearl Harbor on 8 September 1945 and reached
1946-1947
The ship departed Tsingtao for
Blue Ridge departed San Francisco on 12 June 1946, touching at Honolulu, Hawaii, en route to Kwajalein Atoll where she arrived 28 June 1946. Here the ship completed embarking general and flag officers of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps along with United Nations officials for transportation to Bikini Atoll to observe Atomic Bomb Tests. She hoisted the flag of Vice Admiral Harry W. Hill. The senior officer on board was Vice Admiral Edward L. Cochrane, Chief of the Bureau of Ships. Also on board were Vice Admiral George F. Hussey and Vice Admiral Alfred E. Montgomery.
The ship arrived at Bikini Atoll on 29 June 1946, serving as one of the command and observation ships off Bikini during the Atomic Bomb Test "Able" on 1 July. Thereafter, she called at Ponape and Truk in the Caroline Islands, then proceeded to Kwajalein where, on 23 July, Blue Ridge became the flagship of Rear Admiral C. C. Glover. The ship again served as observation flagship for the atomic bomb test of 24 July, hauled down Rear Admiral Glover's flag on 27 July, and sailed for home on 30 July. She arrived at San Francisco inactivation overhaul in the Naval Shipyard at Terminal Island; she decommissioned on 14 March 1947.
The ship remained in reserve until 1 January 1960, when her name was struck from the Navy List. She was sold for scrapping 26 August 1960 to Zidell Exploration Incorporated, Portland, Oregon.
Awards
USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2) received the
- One Star/Leyte operation : Leyte Landings: 13–30 October 1944
- One Star/Luzon operation : Lingayen Gulf Landings: 9–14 January 1945
- China Service Medal : 22 September 1945 – 24 February 1946
- World War II Victory Medal (United States)
- Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia Clasp) : 22 September 1945 – 24 February 1946
- Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation Badge
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links