page_title: USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) was put "in commission special" on 14 November 1970, at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard as an Amphibious Command and Control (LCC) ship, with Captain Kent J. Carroll (Vice Admiral Carroll, Ret.) as the Commanding Officer. "The ship was sponsored by Mrs. Harry F. Byrd, Jr., wife of the U. S. Senator from Virginia. The principal speaker at the ceremony was the Honorable John W. Warner, Under Secretary of the Navy." [1] "BLUE RIDGE, the first ship of her class, represents almost 7 years of planning and construction work which has pro-duced a ship specifically designed from the keel up as a com-mand and control ship. BLUE RIDGE is capable of supporting the staff of both the Commander of an Amphibious Task Force and the staff of the Commanding General of the Landing Force. The advanced computer system, extensive communications package and modern surveillance and detection systems are molded into the most advanced joint amphibious command and control center ever constructed." [2] "In becoming operational BLUE RIDGE assumes the distinct-ion of carrying the world's most sophisticated electronics com-plex to sea--a package some thirty percent larger than that of the attack carrier John F. Kennedy, which until the time of the BLUE RIDGE's commissioning, held this record. BLUE RIDGE utilizes her "main battery" of computers, communications gear, and other electronic facilities to fulfill her mission as a "com-mand ship for Amphibious Task Force and Landing Force Commanders during Amphibious Operations," ... an extremely refined communications system is also an integral part of the ship's radical new design. Through an Auto-mated patch panel and computer controlled switching matrix and combination of communication equipment desired may be quickly connected. The "clean" topside area is the result of careful design intended to keep to a minimum the ship's interference to her own communications system." [3]
context_page_description: USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) is the first of the two Blue Ridge-class amphibious command ships of the United States Navy, and is the flagship of the Seventh Fleet. Her primary role is to provide command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence support to the commander and staff of the United States Seventh Fleet. She is currently forward-deployed to U.S. Navy Fleet Activities, Yokosuka in Japan, and is the third Navy ship named after the Blue Ridge Mountains, a range of mountains in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. Blue Ridge is the oldest deployable warship of the U.S. Navy, following the decommissioning of USS Denver. Blue Ridge, as the U.S. Navy's active commissioned ship having the longest total period as active, flies the First Navy Jack instead of the Jack of the United States. Blue Ridge is expected to remain in service until 2039.
context_section_description: USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) was put "in commission special" on 14 November 1970, at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard as an Amphibious Command and Control (LCC) ship, with Captain Kent J. Carroll as the commanding officer. The ship was sponsored by Mrs. Gretchen Byrd, wife of the U. S. Senator from Virginia, Harry F. Byrd Jr.. The principal speaker at the ceremony was John W. Warner, Under Secretary of the Navy and later Senator from Virginia.
  Blue Ridge was the replacement for USS Estes, but Estes was decommissioned earlier than planned in October 1969 due to the budget cuts of the late 1960s.
  Blue Ridge was the first ship of its class and represented almost seven years of planning and construction work. The result was a ship specifically designed from the keel up as a command and control ship. As designed, Blue Ridge was capable of supporting the staff of both the Commander of an Amphibious Task Force and the staff of the Commanding General of the Landing Force. The advanced computer system, extensive communications package and modern surveillance and detection systems was molded into the most advanced joint amphibious command and control center ever constructed.
  At the time of her commissioning, Blue Ridge had the distinction of carrying the world's most sophisticated electronics suite. It was said to be some thirty percent larger than that of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy, which had been the most complex. Blue Ridge was armed with a "main battery" of computers, communications gear, and other electronic facilities to fulfill her mission as a command ship. An extremely refined communications system was also an integral part of the ship's radical new design. Through an automated patch panel and computer controlled switching matrix her crew could use any combination of communication equipment desired. The clean topside area is the result of careful design intended to minimize the ship's interference with her own communications system. US Navy long-range communications were heavily reliant on high frequency radio systems in the 1970s and have evolved to predominantly satellite communications in the 2000s. This is illustrated by the long wire antennas and the directional HF yagi or log-periodic antenna initially installed on Blue Ridge and later removed and replaced with a number of satellite communications antennas.
  Besides small arms, Blue Ridge was armed with two twin Mark 33 3"/50 caliber guns at commissioning, though they have since been removed. It also carried two Mark 25 launchers and electronics for the Basic Point Defense Missile System (BPDMS) which was added sometime in the 1970s and removed in the 1990s. Two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS systems were added in the 1980s for point defense. In recent years it has also carried 25 mm Bushmaster cannons.
caption: Commissioning on 14 November 1970
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