USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2)

USS "Blue Ridge" (AGC-2) was an "Appalachian"-class amphibious force flagship in the United States Navy. She was named for the southeasternmost ridge of the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia and North Carolina.

Commissioning

"Blue Ridge" was built by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Kearny, New Jersey, under a Maritime Commission contract. The ship was launched on March 7, 1943 under the sponsorship of Mrs. David Arnott. "Blue Ridge" was transferred to the Navy on March 15, 1943. The Bethlehem Steel Company of Brooklyn, New York, outfitted the ship as an amphibious force flagship and was commissioned on September 27, 1943. Commander Lewis R. McDowell, USN, was the commanding officer.

1943-1944

Following trial runs in Long Island Sound, "Blue Ridge" departed New York on October 8, 1943, to train in the Chesapeake Bay Area out of Norfolk, Virginia. On November 1, the ship put to sea with two destroyers, bound for the South Pacific. After transit of the Panama Canal, "Blue Ridge" called at the Society, New Caledonia and Fiji Islands, en route to Brisbane, Australia, arriving on December 16, 1943. She pulled out of Brisbane three days later for Milne Bay, New Guinea where December 24, 1943, she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey, USN, Commander Seventh Amphibious Force. She served as the command ship for amphibious operations westward along the New Guinea Coast until October 13, 1944. On that day, "Blue Ridge" left Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) as the flagship of Rear Admiral Barbey's Northern Attack Force bound for the liberation of the Philippine Islands.

The night of October 19-20, 1944 "Blue Ridge" and her formation stood through the swept part of Surigao Strait, between Homonhon and Dinagat Islands and entered San Pedro Bay, Leyte, Philippine Islands. She served as a command ship for troops storming the beaches at Leyte the morning of October 20, and continued in support of the amphibious assault landings for six days. The ship's gunners drove off an enemy reconnaissance plan October 23. The morning of October 25, 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 October 26, 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 met disaster in the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle off Samar and the Battle of Cape Engano. She stood out of San Pedro Bay in the night of October 26, 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 Attack Force 78. Besides Admiral Barbey and his staff, she embarked Major General I. P. Swift, commanding the I Army Corps, and Major General L. F. Wing, Commanding the 43rd Infantry Division, together with their personal staffs.

"Blue Ridge" led the San Fabian Attack Force from Aitape, New Guinea on December 28, 1944. An aerial snooper was driven off by gunfire January 2, 1945 and covering escort carrier aircraft shot down a bomber twenty miles out from her formation the following day. The night of January 4, 1945 the command ship followed a covering group of cruisers and destroyers through Surigao Strait to enter the Mindanao Sea. The afternoon of January 5 an enemy submarine fired on the covering group, ten miles ahead, and was forced to surface and rammed by destroyer Dashiell. Enemy planes attacked the formation January 7; two being shot down by pilots of the Combat Air Patrol, 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 January 8, 1945 and entered Linguine Gulf before daybreak of January 9. Troops stormed ashore that morning, some two hours after a single-engine enemy aircraft sneaked through cover of night, staffed 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 January 13, 1945 Chief Storekeeper H. G. Williamson reported on board "Blue Ridge". He was an escaped prisoner of war, having been captured by the Japanese on January 18, 1942, while attached to the Naval Air Station at Cavite. He had escaped on March 15, 1942 and had remained in hiding near San Fabian since then. Williamson was returned to duty at the Naval Base and "Blue Ridge" departed Lingayen Gulf on January 15, 1945. The ship continued to serve as Vice Admiral Barbey's flagship at San Pedro Bay and Subic Bay until June 8, 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, Commander Amphibious Group Five on June 30, 1945. She hauled down his flag on July 20 and entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for alterations and repairs.

"Blue Ridge" departed Pearl Harbor on September 8, 1945 and reached Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on September 22. That afternoon, she hoisted the flag of Rear Admiral Ingolf N. Kiland, Commander Amphibious Group Seven. The ship got underway on October 21 to serve as a command ship at Tsingtao, China, arriving October 24, 1945. Rear Admiral Kiland shifted his flag to USS|Wasatch|AGC-9 on November 6, 1945 and "Blue Ridge" became the flagship of Rear Admiral Albert G. Noble, Commander Amphibious Group One.

1946

The ship departed Tsingtao for Jinsen, Korea on December 13, 1945, then returned off Taku Bar before proceeding to Shanghai, China. She arrived in the Wonsung Anchorage of the Uangtze River on December 22, 1945, and served as station command ship for Naval Forces there until February 24, 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 March 18, 1946. The ship entered the Naval Shipyard at Terminal Island to prepare for participation in "Operation Crossroads", the atomic bomb tests to be carried out at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands.

"Blue Ridge" departed San Francisco on June 12, 1946, touching at Honolulu, Hawaii, en route to Kwajalein Atoll where she arrived June 28, 1946. Here the ship completed embarking general and flag officers of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps along with United Nations officials for transportation to Bikini Atoll to observe Atomic Bomb Tests. She hoisted the flag of Vice Admiral Harry W. Hill. The senior officer on board was Vice Admiral Edward L. Cochrane, Chief of the Bureau of Ships. Also on board were Vice Admiral George F. Hussey and Vice Admiral A. E. Montgomery.

The ship arrived at Bikini Atoll on June 29, 1946, serving as one of the command and observation ships off Bikini during the Atomic Bomb Test "Able" on July 1. Thereafter, she called at Ponape and Truk in the Caroline Islands, then proceeded to Kwajalein where, on July 23, "Blue Ridge" became the flagship of Rear Admiral C. C. Glover. The ship again served as observation flagship for the atomic bomb test of July 24, hauled down Rear Admiral Glover's flag on July 27, and sailed for home on July 30. She arrived at San Francisco inactivation overhaul in the Naval Shipyard at Terminal Island; she decommissioned on March 14, 1947. The ship remained in reserve until January 1, 1960, when her name was struck from the Navy List. She was sold for scrapping August 26, 1960 to Zidell Exploration Incorporated, Portland, Oregon.

Awards

USS "Blue Ridge" (AGC-2) received two battle stars and other awards for the operations listed below:

* One Star/LEYTE OEPRATION: Leyte Landings: October 13-30, 1944
* One Star/LUZON OPERATION: Lingayen Gulf Landings: January 9-14, 1945
* NAVY OCCUPATION SERVICE MEDAL (Asia Clasp): September 22, 1945-February 24, 1946
* CHINA SERVICE MEDAL: September 22, 1945-February 24, 1946
* REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION BADGE:

References

*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b7/blue-ridge-ii.htm

External links

* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/0102.htm navsource.org: USS "Blue Ridge"]