Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Tango - Alpha - Echo NTAE

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)

Appalachian Class Amphibious Force Command Ship:

Laid down, 4 December 1942, as a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-B1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 201) at Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock, Kearny, N.J.

Launched, 7 March 1943

Transferred to the US Navy, 15 March 1943

Commissioned USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2), 27 September 1943, LCDR. L. R. McDowell in command

During World War II USS Blue Ridge was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

**Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns**
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Leyte operation Leyte landings, 20 to 26 October 1944	Luzon operation Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 to 15 January 1945

Decommissioned, 14 March 1947

Struck from the Naval Register, 1 January 1960

Title transferred to the Maritime Administration, 26 August 1960

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 26 August 1960, to Zidell Explorations, Inc., Portland, OR.

USS Blue Ridge received two battle stars for World War II service

Specifications:
Displacement 7,431 t.(lt) 13,910 t.(fl)
Length 459' 3"
Beam 63'
Draft 24'
Speed 16.4 kts.
Armament

two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts

four twin 40mm AA gun mounts

eighteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
Complement

36 Officers

442 Enlisted

Staff Accommodations

Officers 128

Enlisted 334
Largest Boom Capacity 15 t.
Fuel Capacities

NSFO 23,499 Bbls

Diesel 665 Bbls
Propulsion

one General Electric geared steam turbine

two Combustion Engineering boilers, 465psi 765°

double General Electric Main Reduction Gears

Ship's Service Generators

four turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.

one Diesel-drive 100Kw 450V A.C.

single propeller, 6,000shp

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
62k	*USS Blue Ridge* (AGC-2)** underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photo.	Robert Hurst.
62k	*USS Blue Ridge* (AGC-2)** underway, October 1943, location unknown.
78k	*USS Blue Ridge* (AGC-2)** underway, 6 October 1943, location unknown. To gain the necessary internal space, her hull was built up one deck between her two goalpost masts. Note the two whaleboats in davits; in service such ships carried only standard landing craft. Note also the freighter booms retained even though the hatches they served (fore and aft of the forward kingposts and forward of the after kingposts) had been plated over. US Navy Bureau of Ships photo and text from "U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History" by Norman Friedman.	Robert Hurst
168k	*USS Blue Ridge* (AGC-2)** at anchor on the Whangpoo River at Shanghai, China, circa January -February 1946.	Daniel A. Guntin MMOM3/c USS Wasatch USS LCi(l)-970
64k	*USS Blue Ridge* (AGC-2) moored astern of USS Mount Olympus (AGC-8)** at anchor in the Whangpoo River, Shanghai, China, 14 January 1946.	Greg Hook for his uncle Wilson J. Hill RM3/c USS Olympus

View the USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2)
DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
Fleet Reserve Association

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
No Information Available

Back To The Main Photo Index

Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index

Back To The Amphibious Command Ship (AGC) Photo Index

Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster

Last Updated 15 January 2010