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
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Blue Ridge 62k USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.
    Robert Hurst.
    Blue Ridge 62k USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2) underway, October 1943, location unknown.  
    Blue Ridge 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
    Blue Ridge 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
    Mount Olympus 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
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2009 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 15 January 2010