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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Appalachian (AGC-1)

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Tango - Zulu - Quebec
 NTZQ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)
Appalachian Class Amphibious Force Command Ship:
  • Laid down, 4 November 1942, as a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-B1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC Hull 200), at Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J.
  • Launched, 29 January 1943
  • Acquired by the Navy, 27 February 1943
  • Converted for naval service at Todd Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Commissioned USS Appalachian (AGC-1), 2 October 1943, CAPT. James M. Fernald in command
  • During World War II USS Appalachian was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marshall Islands operation
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls,
    Roi and Namur, 31 January to 6 February 1944     		Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 20 to 23 October 1944
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 14 July to 10 August 1944     		Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 11 to 12 January 1945

  • Decommissioned, 21 May 1947, at San Diego CA.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 March 1959
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in 1960
  • USS Appalachian earned four battle stars for her World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 6,556 t.(lt), 13.910 t.(fl)
    Length 459' 3"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 24'
    Speed 16.4 kts.
    Complement
    34 Officers
    472 Enlisted
    Staff Accommodations unknown
    Armament
    two single 5"/38 DP gun mounts
    four twin mount 40mm AA gun mounts
    fourteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion steam turbine, single shaft, 6,000shp.
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Appalachian 154k USS Appalachian (AGC-1) underway off the New York coast, 18 October 1943. Photographed from a Naval Air Station New York City aircraft.
    US Navy photo # NH 97722 from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Appalachian 134k USS Appalachian (AGC-1) underway off the New York coast, 18 October 1943. Photographed from a Naval Air Station New York City aircraft.
    US Navy photo # NH 97723 from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Appalachian 80k USS Appalachian (AGC-1) circa February 1944, at the time of the Marshalls operation.
    US Navy photo # NH 82932 from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Appalachian 117k Aft plan view of USS Appalachian (AGC-1) at Navy Yard Mare Island, Vallejo, CA., 25 March 1945. USS Chester (CA-27) is in the background.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 2129-45.    		 Darryl Baker
    Appalachian 123k Forward plan view of USS Appalachian (AGC-1) at Navy Yard Mare Island, Vallejo, CA., 25 March 1945. Appalachian was in overhaul at Mare Island from 13 February until 6 April 1945.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 2130-45.    		 Darryl Baker
    Appalachian 156k Aft plan view of USS Appalachian (AGC-1) at Navy Yard Mare Island, Vallejo, CA., 5 April 1945. White circles indicate the areas added or modified by Mare Island during the overhaul.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 2444-45.    		 Darryl Baker
    Appalachian 189k Forward plan view of USS Appalachian (AGC-1) at Navy Yard Mare Island, Vallejo, CA., 5 April 1945. White circles indicate the areas added or modified by Mare Island during the overhaul.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 2445-45.    		 Darryl Baker
    Appalachian 85k USS Appalachian (AGC-1) circa 1945-46.
    US Navy photo # NH 94692 from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Appalachian 77k USS Appalachian (AGC-1) circa 1946. This view was released on 17 May 1946, in connection with the ship's role as "floating press headquarters" for the Bikini atomic bomb tests.
    US Navy photo # NH 97724 from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Appalachian 144k US Appalachian (AGC-1), bearing members of the press accredited to Operation "Crossroads," gets underway from alongside a pier at San Francisco, 12 June 1946, bound for Bikini Atoll.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-173112, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives    		 Hyperwar US Navy in World War II
    View the USS Appalachian (AGC-1)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    View copies of USS Appalachian Ships Newspaper "Riptide"
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 19 October 2007