USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20)

The USS "Mount Whitney" (LCC/JCC 20), a "Blue Ridge" class command ship, is the flagship of the United States Navy's Sixth Fleet. She is also the command and control ship for the Commander Joint Command Lisbon and the Commander Striking Force NATO. She had previously served for years as the Second Fleet's command ship.

She was classified as the LCC-20 on 1 January 1969, and she was laid down on 6 January by Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, Newport News, Virginia, Virginia. This ship is named for Mount Whitney, the 14,500-foot peak which is the highest in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California as well as the 48 contiguous states.

*The "Mount Whitney" carries enough food to feed her crew for 90 days, and she can transport supplies to support an emergency evacuation of 3,000 people.
*The "Mount Whitney"'s distilling units can make over 400 m³ (100'000 US gallons) of fresh water a day.
*She was the first U.S. Navy combat ship to have permanent accommodations for women on board.

Considered by some to be the most sophisticated Command, Control, Communications, Computer, and Intelligence (C4I) ship ever commissioned, "Mount Whitney" incorporates various elements of the most advanced C4I equipment and gives the embarked Joint Task Force Commander the capability to effectively command all units under the command of the Commander, Joint Task Force.

The "Mount Whitney" can transmit and receive large amounts of secure data to and from any point on earth through HF, UHF, VHF, and SHF (satellite communications) communications channels. This electronic technology enables the Joint Intelligence Center and Joint Operations Center to provide the timely intelligence and operational support available in the Navy.

The "Mount Whitney" deployed in 1994 to Haiti with LTG Hugh Shelton, the commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps, in command of the Joint Task Force that conducted Operation Uphold Democracy.

On November 12, 2002, "Mount Whitney" deployed to the Central Command area of responsibility in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She was acting as the initial command post for Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa. During the deployment, the ship embarked elements of the 2nd Marine Division and II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF), based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, under the command of Maj. Gen. John F. Sattler and Captain Morton W. Kenyon.

In 2004, Military Sealift Command civilian sailors were integrated into her crew. She remains a commissioned warship in the United States Navy, but the size of her crew was reduced from about 600 sailors to about 170 Navy officers and enlisted men and 155 civilians.

In February 2005, "Mount Whitney" left Norfolk for Gaeta, Italy where she was redesignated as the (LCC/JCC 20) and assumed duties as the 6th Fleet flagship, officially relieving "La Salle". She also assumed duties as the command ship for the Commander Joint Command Lisbon and the Commander Striking Force NATO.

In August 2008, "Mount Whitney" was deployed to the Black Sea in support of Operation Assured Delivery to deliver humanitarian aid to those affected by the Russian-Georgian war [ [http://www.eucom.mil/english/FullStory.asp?art=1810] ] and became the first NATO ship to deliver aid to port of Poti, Georgia. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7599919.stm] .

References

External links

* [http://www.mtwhitney.navy.mil USS "Mount Whitney" official Site]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/01/0120.htm Photos]
* [http://navysite.de/ships/lcc20.htm navysite.de: USS "Mount Whitney"]