USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2)

History
USS Blue Ridge underway, 6 October 1943

Name:	USS Blue Ridge
Builder:	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Kearny, New Jersey
Launched:	7 March 1943
Acquired:	15 March 1943
Commissioned:	27 September 1943
Decommissioned:	14 March 1947
Struck:	1 January 1960
Honours and awards:	2 battle stars Navy Occupation Service Medal China Service Medal Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Badge
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 26 August 1960
General characteristics
Class and type:	Appalachian-class Amphibious Command Ship
Displacement:	13,910 long tons (14,133 t)
Length:	459 ft 3 in (139.98 m)
Beam:	63 ft (19 m)
Draft:	24 ft (7.3 m)
Speed:	16.6 knots (30.7 km/h; 19.1 mph)
Complement:	Crew: 36 officers, 442 enlisted Staff: 138 officers, 123 enlisted
Armament:	2 × 5"/38 caliber guns 4 × twin 40 mm AA guns

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.

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 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, New York, outfitted the ship as an amphibious force flagship and was commissioned on 27 September 1943. Commander Lewis R. McDowell, USN, was the commanding officer.

Following trial runs in Long Island Sound, Blue Ridge departed New York on 8 October 1943, to train in the Chesapeake Bay Area out of Norfolk, Virginia. On 1 November, 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 16 December 1943. She pulled out of Brisbane three days later for Milne Bay, New Guinea where 24 December 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 13 October 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.