Adirondack-class command ship

The Adirondack-class command ship was a ship class of command ships of the United States Navy during World War II and the Cold War. All 3 ships were converted from the Type C2-S-AJ1 cargo ships.

USS Adirondack in 1951
Class overview
Name	Adirondack class
Builders	North Carolina Shipbuilding Co.
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	Mount McKinley class
Succeeded by	Blue Ridge class
Built	1944–1945
In service	1945–1969
Planned	3
Completed	3
Retired	3
General characteristics
Type	Command ship type C2-S-AJ1
Displacement	7,240 t (7,126 long tons), light load 12,750 t (12,549 long tons), full load
Length	459 ft 3 in (139.98 m)
Beam	63 ft (19 m)
Draft	24 ft 0 in (7.32 m)
Installed power	1 × propeller 6,000 shp (4,474 kW) 450 psi (3,103 kPa)
Propulsion	1 × General Electric geared turbine 2 × Combustion Engineering header-type boilers
Speed	16.4 knots (30.4 km/h; 18.9 mph)
Capacity	710 bbls diesel 20,300 bbls NSFO
Complement	54 officers 579 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems	As designed: 1 × AN/SPS-6 air-search radar 1 × SP fighter-direction radar Modernization: 1 × AN/SPS-6 air-search radar 1 × AN/SPS-8 height-finder radar 1 × AN/SPS-10 surface-search radar 1 × AN/SPS-29 early-warning radar
Armament	2 × single 5"/38 caliber guns 6 × single Oerlikon 20 mm cannons 4 × twin Bofors 40 mm guns
Aviation facilities	Helicopter deck

Development

Three type C2 cargo ships were converted into command ships for the United States Navy throughout the later stages of World War II. After the war, all were modernized with new radars and decommissioned by 1969 to later be 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. All ships served in the Pacific Theater until the end of the war with no ships lost in combat.

Ships in the class

Adirondack class command ship
Hull no.	Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Recommissioned	Decommissioned	Fate
AGC-15	Adirondack	North Carolina Shipbuilding Co.	18 November 1944	13 January 1945	2 September 1945	4 April 1951	9 February 1955	Scrapped, 7 November 1972
AGC-16 / LCC-16	Pocono		30 November 1944	25 January 1945	29 December 1945	18 August 1951	16 September 1971	Scrapped, 9 December 1981
AGC-17 / LCC-17	Taconic		19 December 1943	10 February 1944	16 January 1945	-	17 December 1969	Scrapped, 1 March 1982

References

• Photo gallery of USS Adirondack at NavSource Naval History - lead ship of the class (other AGC ships listed as well)
• United States Navy. 1959-1991. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
• Thomas Jane, Frederick. 1974. Jane's Fighting Ships. Sampson Low, Marston and Company.
• 2002. U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-250-1.