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USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2)
Encyclopedia
USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2) was an Appalachian-class amphibious force flagship in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. She was named for the southeasternmost ridge of the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
Commissioning
Blue Ridge was built by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Kearny, New JerseyKearny, New Jersey
Kearny is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It was named after Civil War general Philip Kearny. As of the United States 2010 Census, the town population was 40,684. The town is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark....
, under a Maritime Commission contract. The ship was launched on 7 March 1943 under the sponsorship of Mrs. David Arnott. Blue Ridge was transferred to the Navy on 15 March, 1943. The Bethlehem Steel Company of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, outfitted the ship as an amphibious force flagship and was commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 27 September, 1943. Commander Lewis R. McDowell, USN, was the commanding officer.
1943-1944
Following trial runs in Long Island SoundLong Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
, Blue Ridge departed New York on 8 October 1943, to train in the Chesapeake Bay Area out of Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
. On 1 November, the ship put to sea with two destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s, bound for the South Pacific. After transit of the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
, Blue Ridge called at the Society
Society Islands
The Society Islands are a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. They are politically part of French Polynesia. The archipelago is generally believed to have been named by Captain James Cook in honor of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands;...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
and Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
Islands, en route to Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, arriving on 16 December 1943. She pulled out of Brisbane three days later for Milne Bay
Milne Bay
Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The bay is named after Sir Alexander Milne.The area was a site of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942....
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
where 24 December 1943, she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey
Daniel E. Barbey
Vice Admiral Daniel Edward Barbey was an officer in the United States Navy who served in World War I and World War II. A graduate of the Naval Academy, he participated in the 1912 United States occupation of Nicaragua and the 1915 United States occupation of Veracruz. While serving with the War...
, USN, Commander Seventh Amphibious Force. She served as the command ship for amphibious operations westward along the New Guinea Coast
Western New Guinea campaign
The Western New Guinea campaign was a series of actions in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. United States and Australian forces assaulted Japanese bases and positions in the northwest coastal areas of Netherlands New Guinea and adjoining parts of the Australian Territory of New Guinea...
until 13 October 1944. On that day, Blue Ridge left Hollandia
Jayapura
Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
(currently known as Jayapura) as the flagship of Rear Admiral Barbey's Northern Attack Force bound for the liberation of the Philippine Islands.
On the night of 19/20 October 1944 Blue Ridge and her formation stood through the swept part of Surigao Strait
Surigao Strait
Surigao Strait is a body of water in the Philippines located between the islands of Mindanao and Leyte. This strait connects the Bohol Sea with Leyte Gulf and is regularly crossed by ferries that transport goods and people between Visayas and Mindanao...
, between Homonhon
Homonhon Island
Homonhon Island is an island in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines, on the east side of Leyte Gulf. It is about 20 km long.-History:...
and Dinagat
Dinagat Island
' is a province in the Philippines, located on the south side of Leyte Gulf. Leyte is to its west, across Surigao Strait, and Mindanao is to its south...
Islands and entered San Pedro Bay
San Pedro Bay (Philippines)
San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...
, Leyte, Philippine Islands. She served as a command ship for troops storming the beaches at Leyte the morning of 20 October, and continued in support of the amphibious assault landings for six days. The ship's gunners drove off an enemy reconnaissance plan 23 October. The morning of 25 October, a torpedo-bomber made a run along her port side, coming in from her port quarter, and was shot down by her forward 40 mm gunners. That afternoon, the ship fired on 11 enemy planes of various types attacking the transport area.
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 Japanese Fleet
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
met disaster in the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle off Samar
Battle off Samar
The Battle off Samar was the centermost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar Island, in the Philippines on 25 October 1944...
and the Battle of Cape Engano. She stood out of San Pedro Bay in the night of 26 October 1944 to stage at ports of New Guinea in preparation for the liberation landings to be made at Lingayen. She remained the flagship of Vice Admiral Barbey who was designated commander of the San Fabian
San Fabian, Pangasinan
San Fabian is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 74,005 people in 12,690 households....
Attack Force 78. Besides Admiral Barbey and his staff, she embarked Major General Innis P. Swift
Innis P. Swift
Innis Palmer Swift was a Major General in the United States Army. He was the grandson and namesake of Civil War Major General Innis Newton Palmer, as well as the grandson of Brigadier General Ebenezer Swift...
, commanding the I Army Corps, and Major General Leonard F. Wing
Leonard F. Wing
Leonard Fish Wing, Sr. was a Vermont political figure and a division commander in the United States Army during World War II.-Early life:...
, commanding the 43rd Infantry Division, together with their personal staffs.
Blue Ridge led the San Fabian Attack Force from Aitape
Aitape
Aitape is a small town of about 8,000 people on the north coast of Papua New Guinea in the Sandaun Province. It is a coastal settlement that is almost equidistant from the provincial capitals of Wewak and Vanimo, and marks the midpoint of the highway between these two capitals...
, New Guinea on 28 December 1944. An aerial snooper was driven off by gunfire on 2 January 1945 and covering escort carrier aircraft shot down a bomber twenty miles out from her formation the following day. The night of 4 January 1945 the command ship followed a covering group of cruisers and destroyers through Surigao Strait to enter the Mindanao Sea
Bohol Sea
The Bohol Sea, also called the Mindanao Sea, is located between Visayas and Mindanao in the Philippines. It lies south of Bohol and Leyte and north of Mindanao...
. On the afternoon of 5 January an enemy submarine fired on the covering group, ten miles ahead, and was forced to surface and rammed by destroyer . Enemy planes attacked the formation 7 January; two being shot down by pilots of the Combat Air Patrol
Combat air patrol
Combat air patrol is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft.A combat air patrol is an aircraft patrol provided over an objective area, over the force protected, over the critical area of a combat zone, or over an air defense area, for the purpose of intercepting and destroying hostile...
, and three fell victims to combined anti-aircraft fire of the formation. That night four destroyers sank a Japanese destroyer eleven miles to the east of Blue Ridge. The command ship helped repel six enemy planes on 8 January 1945 and entered Lingayen Gulf before daybreak of 9 January. Troops stormed ashore
Invasion of Lingayen Gulf
The Liberation of Lingayen Gulf was an Allied amphibious operation in the Philippines during World War II. In the early morning of 9 January 1945, an Allied force commanded by Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf began approaching the shores of Lingayen. U.S...
that morning, some two hours after a single-engine enemy aircraft sneaked through cover of night, strafed to a point forward of the bow, barely missed the bridge, then overshot and dropped bombs about 500 yards off her port bow. The ship was not damaged and suffered no casualties. During the initial landings, three air attacks came close enough to be a threat to Blue Ridge, but veered off the in the face of heavy anti-suicide swimmers and small fast suicide boats. To combat this threat, a patrol boat was kept circling Blue Ridge and all shipboard security patrols were strengthened.
1945
On 13 January 1945 Chief Storekeeper H. G. Williamson reported on board Blue Ridge. He was an escaped prisoner of warPrisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
, having been captured by the Japanese on 18 January 1942, while attached to the Naval Air Station at Cavite
Cavite
Cavite is a province of the Philippines located on the southern shores of Manila Bay in the CALABARZON region in Luzon, just 30 kilometers south of Manila. Cavite is surrounded by Laguna to the east, Metro Manila to the northeast, and Batangas to the south...
. He had escaped on 15 March 1942 and had remained in hiding near San Fabian
San Fabián
San Fabián is one of 21 communes in the Ñuble Province of central Chile's Biobío Region. The capital is the town of San Fabián de Alico. The commune spans an area of .-Administration:...
since then. Williamson was returned to duty at the Naval Base and Blue Ridge departed Lingayen Gulf
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
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
Jerauld Wright
Admiral Jerauld Wright, USN, served as the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Command and the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S...
, 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 Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on 22 September. That afternoon, she hoisted the flag of Rear Admiral Ingolf N. Kiland, Commander Amphibious Group Seven. The ship got underway on 21 October to serve as a command ship at Tsingtao
Qingdao
' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, arriving 24 October 1945. Rear Admiral Kiland shifted his flag to on 6 November 1945 and Blue Ridge became the flagship of Rear Admiral Albert G. Noble
Albert G. Noble
Admiral Albert Gallatin Noble was a United States Navy admiral who was promoted to four star rank as a "tombstone admiral".-Biography:...
, Commander Amphibious Group One.
1946-1947
The ship departed Tsingtao for Jinsen, KoreaKorea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
on 13 December 1945, then returned off Taku Bar before proceeding to Shanghai, China. She arrived in the Woosung
Wusong
Wusong,Chinese: s , t , p Wúsōng. formerly Woosung, was a port town located fourteen miles downriver from Shanghai.The Battle of Woosung occurred on 16 June 1842 between British and Chinese forces during the First Opium War. It was the site of China's first telegraph wires and first railroad, both...
Anchorage of the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
on 22 December 1945, and served as station command ship for Naval Forces there until 24 February 1946, when the ship departed Shanghai for Hawaii. After a brief stay at Pearl Harbor, she was routed to the western seaboard, arriving at San Pedro, California on 18 March 1946. The ship entered the Naval Shipyard at Terminal Island to prepare for participation in "Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. It was the first test of a nuclear weapon after the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945...
", the atomic bomb tests to be carried out at Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
, Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
.
Blue Ridge departed San Francisco on 12 June 1946, touching at Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, 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
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
officials for transportation to Bikini Atoll to observe Atomic Bomb Tests. She hoisted the flag of Vice Admiral Harry W. Hill
Harry W. Hill
Harry Wilbur Hill was an admiral in the United States Navy during World War II.-Biography:Hill was born in Oakland, California on 7 April 1890...
. The senior officer on board was Vice Admiral Edward L. Cochrane
Edward L. Cochrane
Vice Admiral Edward Lull "Ned" Cochrane was a United States Navy officer and noted naval architect who served as Chief of the Bureau of Ships during World War II...
, 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"
Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. It was the first test of a nuclear weapon after the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945...
on 1 July. Thereafter, she called at Ponape
Pohnpei
Not to be confused with Pompeii, the ancient city destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79.Pohnpei "upon a stone altar " is the name of one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia , situated among the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group...
and Truk in the Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
, 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
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
. She was sold for scrapping 26 August 1960 to Zidell Exploration Incorporated
Zidell Companies
The Zidell Companies are a group of family-owned companies based in Portland, Oregon. They include Zidell Marine, a ship construction company which specializes in the building of barges, and Tube Forgings of America Inc....
, Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
.
Awards
USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2) received two battle stars and other awards for the operations listed below:- One Star/Leyte operation : Leyte Landings: 13-30 October 1944
- One Star/Luzon operation : Lingayen Gulf Landings: 9-14 January 1945
- Navy Occupation Service MedalNavy Occupation Service MedalThe Navy Occupation Service Medal is a decoration of the United States Navy which was issued to Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard personnel who participated in the European and Asian occupation forces following the close of the World War II. The decoration was also bestowed to personnel who...
(Asia Clasp) : 22 September 1945-24 February 1946 - China Service MedalChina Service MedalThe China Service Medal was a military medal awarded to U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard personnel. The medal was instituted on August 23, 1940 and featured a yellow ribbon with narrow red edge stripes...
: 22 September 1945-24 February 1946 - Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation BadgePresidential Unit Citation (Philippines)The Philippine Presidential Unit Citation is a decoration of the Republic of the Philippines which has been awarded to certain units of the United States military for actions both during and subsequent to the Second World War....