BLUE RIDGE command ships (1970 - 1971)
Blue Ridge 1970
Blue Ridge 1979
Blue Ridge 1990
Blue Ridge 2000
Blue Ridge 2014
| No | Name | Yard No | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Comm | Fate |
| LCC19 | Blue Ridge | Philadelphia N Yd | 27.2.1967 | 4.1.1969 | 14.11.1970 | in service (2019) | |
| LCC20 | Mount Whitney | 593 | Newport News | 8.1.1969 | 8.1.1970 | 16.1.1971 | in service (2019) |
|
Displacement standard, t |
LCC19: 13077 LCC20: 12846 |
|
Displacement full, t |
LCC19: 19648 LCC20: 19760 |
|
Length, m |
176.8 wl 189.0 oa |
|
Breadth, m |
25.0 wl 32.9 ext |
|
Draught, m |
8.20 |
|
No of shafts |
1 |
|
Machinery |
1 set General Electric geared steam turbines, 2 Foster Wheeler boilers |
|
Power, h. p. |
22000 |
|
Max speed, kts |
21.5 |
|
Fuel, t |
oil 2800 |
|
Endurance, nm(kts) |
13000(16) |
|
Armament |
2 x 2 - 76/50 Mk 33, helicopter deck for 1 SH-3H Sea King |
|
Military load |
700 persons flag; 700 troops, 3 LCP, 2 LCVP |
|
Electronic equipment |
LN-66, SPS-10F, SPS-40C, SPS-48C, 2x Mk 35 radars, NTDS, ACIS, NIPS CCS |
|
Complement |
720 |
Project history: These two ships, survivors of a planned class of six, are direct successors to the merchant hull conversions of the Second World War. Their design was determined by a combination of internal volume requirements (for accommodation and for command spaces) and communications requirements (for antenna performance). It is based on, but by no means identical with, the earlier helicopter carrier (LPH) design, with an additional deck level and with an entirely new (full width) superstructure. Special amphibious warfare features included extra control spaces for the amphibious commander. To some extent the decision not to build further LCCs was justified on the ground that the new LHA incorporated considerable command features on its own.
Modernizations: 1974, both: + 2 x 8 Sea Sparrow SAM (16 RIM-7), 2x Mk 115 radars
1978, both: - 2x Mk 35 radars
early 1980s, both: + SLQ-32(v)3 ECM suite, 4x Mk 36 SRBOC decoy RL
late 1980s, both: + SPS-62 radar
1985, LCC19; 1987, LCC20: - SPS-10F radar; + 2 x 6 - 20/76 Mk 15 Mk 15 Phalanx, SPS-65, 2x Mk 90 radars, length oa became 194.0m
1993, both: - 2 x 8 Sea Sparrow SAM (16 RIM-7), 2 x 2 - 76/50, 2x Mk 115, SPS-62 radars; + 2 x 1 - 25/75 Mk 38 Bushmaster, 4 x 1 - 12.7/90, SPS-64 radar, SLQ-25 Nixie torpedo decoy, TBMCS CCS
2000, LCC19: - SPS-48C, SPS-65 radars, NTDS CCS; + SPS-67(v)1 radar, JMCIS, AADC, MCCIS, NTCS-A CCS
2000, LCC20: - SPS-40C, SPS-48C, SPS-64, SPS-65 radars, NTDS CCS; + SPS-67(v)1, SPS-73 radars, JMCIS, AADC, MCCIS, NTCS-A CCS
Naval service: No significant events.
Blue Ridge 1971
Blue Ridge 2008
© Ivan Gogin, 2015-19