USS Rocky Mount
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| History | |
|---|---|
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| Laid down: | 4 December 1942 |
| Launched: | 7 March 1943 |
| Acquired: | 13 March 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 16 October 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 22 March 1947 |
| Struck: | 1 July 1960 |
| Fate: | scrapped in 1973 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 7,240 t.(lt) 13.910t.(fl) |
| Length: | 459 ft 3 in (139.98 m) |
| Beam: | 63 ft (19 m) |
| Draught: | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | geared steam turbine, single propeller |
| Speed: | 16.4 kts. |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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USS Rocky Mount (AGC-3) was an Appalachian-class command ship in the United States Navy. She was named for the Rocky Mountains.
Rocky Mount was laid down for the Maritime Commission on 4 December 1942 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey; launched 7 March 1943; sponsored by Mrs Elsie F. Lee, wife of Robert C. Lee of the Moore-McCormack Lines for whom the ship was being built; acquired by the Navy 13 March 1943; and after conversion by Bethlehem Steel Co., Hoboken, N.J., commissioned 15 October 1943, Capt. Stanley F. Patten in command.
Following shakedown, Rocky Mount sailed for Hawaii via the Panama Canal arriving at Pearl Harbor 27 December. On 10 January 1944, she became flagship of Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner, Commander, 5th Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet.
Rocky Mount was the 3rd of a new type of naval auxiliary: a specially-equipped command and communications ship, which had been improvised for Admiral H. Kent Hewitt in the Salerno operation. The increasing complexity of communications in modern amphibious warfare and the larger number of officers and enlisted men necessary to staff amphibious force headquarters, necessitated the new type.
On 22 January, the 5th Amphibious Force got underway for the Marshall Islands and arrived off Kwajalein the 31st. This was the first of six important campaigns in which Rocky Mount played a significant role. Rear Admiral Turner directed operations from his flagship until Kwajalein was secured on 4 February.
Rocky Mount then became flagship for the task group which next took Eniwetok. On the 25th, she departed the Marshalls for Pearl Harbor and overhaul.
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