|
|
Blue Ridge Class
USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19)
is the lead ship of the Blue Ridge-class of
command ships of the United States Navy. She
is the third Navy ship named after the Blue
Ridge Mountains, a series of ranges in the
Appalachian Mountains of the eastern US. The
ship was commissioned on November 14, 1970,
at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard as a command
and control platform for the Navy. With accommodations
for more than 200 officers and 1200 enlisted,
the ship provides all the services of a small
town. From 1971 until 1979, Blue Ridge operated
from San Diego, California, where she deployed
to the Western Pacific, earning the Meritorious
Unit and Navy Unit Commendations for the evacuation
of Saigon, Vietnam in 1975.
Since October 1979,
Blue Ridge has been forward-deployed to Yokosuka,
Japan as the flagship of Commander Seventh
Fleet. Blue Ridge participates routinely in
U.S. and allied training exercise each year
with countries throughout the Western Pacific
and Indian Ocean. She performed a nine-and-one-half
month deployment as flagship for Commander
United States Naval Forces Central Command
(NAVCENT) during Operations Desert Shield
and Desert Storm from August 1990 through
May 1991, for which the ship earned another
Navy Unit Commendation. Blue
Ridge frequently makes port calls throughout
the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean including
Japan.
|
|
|
