Appalachian-class command ship

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USS Catoctin (AGC-5) off Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1944.jpg
USS Catoctin in 1944
Class overview
NameAppalachian class
Builders
OperatorsFlag of the United States Navy (official).svg  United States Navy
Succeeded by Mount McKinley class
Built1942–1943
In service1943–1947
Planned4
Completed4
Retired4
General characteristics
Type
Displacement
  • 7,431 t (7,314 long tons), light load
  • 13,910 t (13,690 long tons), full load
Length459 ft 3 in (139.98 m)
Beam63 ft (19 m)
Draft24 ft 0 in (7.32 m)
Installed power6,000 shp (4,474 kW)
Propulsion
Speed16.4 knots (30.4 km/h; 18.9 mph)
Capacity
  • 104,136 L (27,510 US gal) diesel
  • 3,735,883 L (986,916 US gal) NSFO
Troops
  • 128 officers
  • 334 enlisted
Complement
  • 36 officers
  • 442 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
1 × SK-1 air-search radar
Armament

The Appalachian-class command ship was a ship class of command ships of the United States Navy during World War II. All 4 ships were converted from the Type C2-S-B1 cargo ships. [1]

Contents

Development

Four type C2 cargo ships were converted into command ships for the United States Navy throughout the middle stages of World War II. After the war, all were slightly modernized and decommissioned in 1947 to later scrapped.

The ship's hull remained nearly the same but with new equipment to carry out her purpose now placed on deck alongside several cranes. The ships' armaments had been slightly changed and relocated in order for the ships to carry out their new roles. [1] All ships served in the Pacific Theater until the end of the war with no ships lost in combat.

Ships in the class

Appalachian class command ship
Hull no.NameBuilderLaid downLaunchedCommissionedDecommissionedFate
AGC-1 Appalachian Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. 4 November 194229 January 19432 October 194321 May 1947Scrapped, 1960
AGC-2 Blue Ridge 4 December 19427 March 194327 September 194314 March 1947Scrapped, 18 August 1960
AGC-3 Rocky Mount 4 December 19427 March 194316 October 194322 March 1947Scrapped, 1 March 1973
AGC-5 Catoctin Moore Dry Dock Co. 194223 January 194324 January 194426 February 1947Scrapped, 1959–1960

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. 2002. ISBN   1-55750-250-1.

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References