USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20)

USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20), a Blue Ridge class command ship, is the flagship of the United States Navy's 6th Fleet. She had previously served for years as 2nd Fleet's command ship.

Originally authorized as AGC-20, was reclassified LCC-20 on 1 January 1969, and laid down 6 January by Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, Newport News, Virginia. The ship is named for Mount Whitney, the 14,946-foot peak in the Sierra Nevada range in California, the highest point in the lower 48 United States.

• She carries enough food to feed the crew for 90 days and can transport supplies to support an emergency evacuation of 3,000 people.
• Her distilling units make over 100,000 US gallons (400 m³) of fresh water a day
• The first U.S. Navy combatant to permanently accommodate women on board.

Mount Whitney can receive and transmit large amounts of secure data from any point on earth through HF, UHF, VHF, SHF and EHF communications paths. This technology enables the Joint Intelligence Center and Joint Operations Center to provide the timely intelligence and operational support available in the Navy.

The ship deployed in 1994 to Haiti with Lt. Gen. Hugh Shelton, commander of the 18th Airborne Corps, in command of the Joint Task Force that conducted Operation Uphold Democracy. In 1999, Mount Whitney\ deployed to the Mediterranean as flagship for Commander, 6th Fleet, relieving the command ship USS La Salle.

On November 12, 2002, Mount Whitney deployed to the Central Command area of responsibility in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. During the deployment the ship embarked elements of the 2nd Marine Division and II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF), based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, under the command of Maj. Gen. John F. Sattler.

From October 2004, the ship was largely taken over by the Military Sealift Command. It remained a commissioned warship in the United States Navy, but most of its Navy crew was replaced by civilian Military Sealift Command personnel. The size of its complement shrank from 600 sailors to 157 sailors and 143 civilians.

In January 2005, Mount Whitney left Norfolk for Gaeta, Italy where she assumed duties as the 6th Fleet command ship on 25 February 2005. She relieved La Salle, which is scheduled for decommissioning.

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