USS Adirondack (ID-1270)

Adirondack, a 3,644 gross ton steel-hulled side-wheel river passenger steamship, was built at Brooklyn, New York, in 1896. She was chartered by the US Navy for World War I service, delivered in September 1917 and became USS Adirondack (ID 1270). For more than two years, she was employed as a floating barracks attached to the Receiving Ship at the New York Navy Yard. No longer required after the Armistice, Adirondack was returned to her owner in January 1919. She operated commercially in the Hudson River area for the next few years, but was abandoned in 1923-24.

The dimensions of the Adirondack were: Length over all, 412 feet; beam, 50 feet; width over guards, 90 feet; depth of hull, 13 feet; and draught, 8 feet. She is of 4,500 tons gross measurement and has a freight capacity of 1,000 tons. The oak keel is 12 inches wide by 16 inches deep. The frames, which are of oak chestnut and red cedar, are 12 inches thick and are spaced 24 inches center to center. They vary in depth from 20 inches on the floor to 10 inches at the sides. There are 11 keelsons of yellow pine, measuring 12 inches by 20 inches, and they are bolted to the frames at each intersection by four bolts. The entire hull is strengthened by diagonal straps of 1/2 inch by 4 inch iron, which is riveted to the frames at each intersection. The hull is also stiffened by two deep suspension trusses or “hog frames," the top chord of which is 14 inches wide by 30 inches deep. There are three watertight bulkheads, which reach to the main deck.

USS Adirondack

USS Adirondack may refer to:

USS Adirondack (AGC-15)

The third USS Adirondack (AGC-15) was laid down on 18 November 1944 under a Maritime Commission contract by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in Wilmington, North Carolina; launched on 13 January 1945, sponsored by Mrs. E. L. White; transferred to the Navy on 4 February 1945; towed to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for conversion; and commissioned on 2 September 1945, the day Japan surrendered on board the battleship Missouri (BB-63) in Tokyo Bay, with Captain R. O. Myers in command.

Service history

1945–1950

The ship was designed as an amphibious force flagship, a floating command post with advanced communications equipment and extensive combat information spaces to be used by the amphibious forces commander and landing force commander during large-scale operations. After shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay from 25 September to 12 October 1945, Adirondack assumed the duties of flagship for Commander, Operational Development Force (CTF 69), and operated out of Norfolk until August 1949, when she was scheduled to participate in an Antarctic expedition. However, that project was cancelled, and Adirondack reported to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for inactivation. On 1 February 1950, she was placed in reserve, in service, as flagship of the Philadelphia Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

USS Adirondack (1862)

The first USS Adirondack was a large and powerful screw-assisted sloop of war with heavy guns, contracted by the Union Navy early in the American Civil War. She was intended for use by the Union Navy as a warship in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways. Her career with the Navy proved to be short, yet active and historically important. USS Adirondack was one of four sister ships which included the Housatonic, Ossipee and Juniata.

Construction and design

Adirondack was built at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York. Her machinery, consisting of two 42 in (110 cm) cylinder, 30 in (76 cm) stroke horizontal back-acting steam engines and two Martin's patent boilers, powering a single 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m) screw propeller, was constructed by the Novelty Iron Works of New York City. The engines were fitted with a Sewall's tonface condenser and a distilling apparatus, capable of producing 300 US gal (1,100 l) of water in a 24-hour period.

Adirondack was laid down in 1861; launched on 22 February 1862; sponsored by Ms. Mary Paulding, a daughter of Flag Officer Hiram Paulding, the Commandant of the New York Navy Yard; named for the Adirondack Mountains, and commissioned on 30 June 1862, Commander Guert Gansevoort in command.