USS Estes (LCC-12)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | USS Estes |
| Builder: | North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, Wilmington, North Carolina |
| Laid down: | 25 August 1943 |
| Launched: | 1 November 1943 |
| Acquired: | 22 February 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 9 October 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 30 June 1949 |
| Recommissioned: | 31 January 1951 |
| Decommissioned: | 31 October 1969 |
| Struck: | 30 July 1976 |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Sold for scrap, 1 December 1977 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Mount McKinley-class amphibious command ship |
| Displacement: | 7,240 long tons (7,356 t) |
| Length: | 459 ft 2 in (139.95 m) |
| Beam: | 63 ft (19 m) |
| Draft: | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Complement: | 633 |
| Armament: | 1 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber gun |
USS Estes (AGC-12) was a Mount McKinley-class amphibious force command ship, officially named after "A mountain peak and national park in Colorado."
She was designed as an amphibious force flagship, a floating command post with advanced communications equipment and extensive combat information spaces to be used by the amphibious forces commander and landing force commander during large-scale operations.
Estes was launched on 1 November 1943 at the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in Wilmington, North Carolina, as Morning Star. The ship was acquired by the Navy on 22 February 1944 and commissioned on 9 October 1944, with Commander R. O. Mathews in command.
On 20 November 1944, Estes arrived at Pearl Harbor from Naval Station Norfolk, and after training, broke the flag of Rear Admiral William H. P. Blandy, Commander, Amphibious Group One. She sailed from Pearl Harbor on 10 January 1945 for rehearsal landings in the Marianas, and on 16 February arrived off Iwo Jima. As flagship for TF 52, Estes served as control center for the pre-invasion bombardment, and the work of underwater demolition teams preparing the beaches for the assault. She remained off the island through the landings of 19 February, receiving wounded and supplying and repairing small craft. She arrived at Ulithi on 11 March to make final preparations for the Okinawa assault.
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