USS Blue Ridge Model Ship
The USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) is the lead ship of the two Blue Ridge-class command ships of the U.S. Navy. She is the third Navy ship named after the Blue Ridge Mountains, a range of mountains in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. The USS Blue Ridge was commissioned on November 14, 1970 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard as a command and control ship for the U.S. Navy.
With accommodations for more than 200 officers and 1200 enlisted men, the Blue Ridge provides all the services of a small town. From 1971 until 1979, the Blue Ridge operated from San Diego, California, where she deployed to the Western Pacific, earning the Meritorious Unit Commendation and Navy Unit Commendation for the evacuation of Saigon in 1975.
Since October 1979, the Blue Ridge has been forward-deployed at the Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan as the flagship of the US Seventh Fleet. The Blue Ridge participates routinely in U.S. and allied training exercise each year with countries throughout the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. The Blue Ridge performed a nine-and-one-half month deployment as flagship for the Commander, United States Naval Forces Central Command during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm from August 1990 through 24 April 1991, for which the warship earned another Navy Unit Commendation.
The Blue Ridge frequently makes port calls throughout the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Australia. She made her historic port visit to Shanghai, China in 1989, 2001 and again in 2004. She also visited Vladivostok, Russia, in 1996, 2003 and 2006. The ship has been cited for rescues of refugees and merchant vessel sailors. The Blue Ridge left Laem Chabang Port after a short visit to the Asian University in Chonburi, Thailand on 7 May 2008, and docked in Manila, Philippines on May 22 for a 3 day goodwill visit, and also, for her crew to help construct Gawad Kalinga homes.
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