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 Adirondack (AGC-15)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Whiskey - Delta - Quebec
 NWDQ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal
Adirondack Class Amphibious Force Flagship:
  • Laid down, 18 November 1944, as a Maritime Commission type (C2-S-AJ1) hull, under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1705) at North Carolina Shipbuilding Co., Wilmington, N.C.
  • Launched, 13 January 1945
  • Acquired by the Navy and placed in partial commission, 4 February 1945, LT. Guyon, Elmer Edward, USNR (Ferry Crew # 1)
  • Decommissioned in February 1945
  • Commissioned USS Adirondack (AGC-15), 2 September 1945, CAPT. Ralph O. Myers in command
  • Decommissioned, 1 February 1950, at Philadelphia, PA. and placed in reserve in service
  • Recommissioned, 4 April 1951
  • Decommissioned, 9 February 1955, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 June 1961
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 7 November 1972, to Union Minerals and Alloys Corp., New York City, N.Y.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 7,240 t (lt), 12,750 t.(fl)
    Length 459' 2"
    Beam 63'
    Draft 24'
    Speed 16.4 kts. (trial)
    Complement
    Officers - 54
    Enlisted - 579
    Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.
    Armament
    two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    six single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO - 20,300 Bbls
    Diesel - 710 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one General Electric geared turbine
    two Combustion Engineering header-type boilers, 450psi 750°
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gears
    Ship's Service Generators
     three turbo-drive 500Kw 120V/240V D.C.
     one Diesel-drive 100Kw 450V D.C.
    single propeller, 6,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Adirondack
    10011511    		 226k
    Namesake
    Adirondack - The Adirondack Mountains form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles. The mountains form a roughly circular dome, about 160 miles in diameter and about 1 mile high. The current relief owes much to glaciation. There are more than 200 lakes around the mountains.
    Photo - The Adirondack Mountains from the top of Whiteface Mountain
    R khot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons    		 Tommy Trampp
    Adirondack 112k Launching of Adirondack (AGC-15), 13 January 1945, at North Carolina Shipbuilding Co., Wilmington, N.C. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Adirondack 61k Adirondack (AGC-15) after launching, 13 January 1945, at North Carolina Shipbuilding Co., Wilmington, N.C. Gerhard Mueller-Debus
    Adirondack 37k USS Adirondack (AGC-15) in Chesapeake Bay, 16 October 1945 Auxiliary Vessels Ferry Crew #5 and USS Adirondack AGC-15 web site
    Adirondack 54k USS Adirondack (AGC-15), date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Stanley C. Svec
    Adirondack 152k Overhead view of USS Adirondack (AGC-15) underway, date and location unknown. Submitted by Christopher Albright for his father Joseph Albright YN3 USS Adirondack
    Adirondack 63k Radio-teletypewriters in use aboard USS Adirondack (AGC-15) circa 1946. Radioman Second Class J. V. Miceli is shown in the foreground seated at the Model 19 teletypewriter used in copying MERFOX radio broadcast schedules. He is using the tape machine next to the teletypewriter to work with a message punched onto paper tape. Seaman First Class J. K. Wooster is seated at a Model 19 teletypewriter that was used to handle traffic to and from NSS, the Navy's long-range communications station at Annapolis, Md. Behind him are two Model 15 teletypewriters. The transfer panel on the rear bulkhead was used for connecting various teletypewriters throughout the ship. The photo may have been taken on 26 August 1946; it later appeared in All Hands magazine.
    US Navy photo # NH 104251 from the "All Hands" Collection at the Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Adirondack 81k USS Adirondack (AGC-15) off Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, 28 July 1951. This and the other two final ships in this class (AGC 15-17) had a heavy pole mast aft instead of a twin goalpost, and their lattice mast over the superstructure appears to have been taller.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, photo # 19-N-137822, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Adirondack 79k USS Adirondack (AGC-15) at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Adirondack 237k USS Adirondack (AGC-15) med-moored at Naples, Italy,while serving as 6th Fleet Flagship, circa 1951-52. Drew Strouble
    Adirondack 53k USS Adirondack (AGC-15) in the James River Reserve Fleet, 27 May 1962. Visible to her starboard is the stern of USS Galilea (AKN-6) and the bow of USS Libra (AKA-12). The stern of Galilea shows the condition of the ship when her conversion from LSV to AKN was canceled incomplete in December 1946. Libra and a few other early AKAs can be recognized by the heavy central kingposts added to the goalpost masts forward and aft of the bridge.
    US Navy photo # NH 66856 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia. Ted Stone Collection    		 US Naval Historical Center
    USS Adirondack (AGC-15)
    Dictionary of American Navy Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
     LT. Guyon, Elmer Edward, USNR4 February 1945 - February 1945
     DecommissionedFebruary 1945 - 2 September 1945
    01CAPT. Myers, Ralph Orsen, USN (1921-A)2 September 1945 - 25 October 1946
    02CAPT. Crosby, Gordon Josiah, USN (USNA 1923) 25 October 1946 - ?
    03CAPT. Johannesen, John Raymond, USN (USNA 1923) :RADMJanuary 1948 - February 1949
    04CAPT. Ross, Philip Harold, USN (USNA 1927)25 February 1949 - 1 February 1950
     *Decommissioned In Reserve In Service1 February 1950 - 4 April 1951
    05*CAPT. LaJeunesse, Roy Warren, USN (USNA 1924)(3 February 1951) - 4 April 1951
    06CAPT. Pryce, Roland Fremont, USN (USNA 1927)4 April 1951 - 21 August 1952
    07CAPT. Irvin, William M. Davis, USN (USNA 1927) :RADM21 August 1952 - 25 February 1953
    08CAPT. Heilig, Robert Bube, USN (USNA 1931)25 February 1953 - 18 January 1954
    09LCDR. Moore, Samuel Howard, USN :RADM18 January 1954 - 9 February 1955
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew contact and reunion information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    Auxiliary Vessels Ferry Crew #5 and The USS Adirondack AGC-15
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page 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
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 14 July 2023