USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20)

The USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) is the first ship in the Navy to bear the name of the 14,946-foot peak in the Sierra Nevada range in California, the highest point in the United States.

General Characteristics

Keel Laid: January 8, 1969

Launched: January 8, 1970

Commissioned: January 16, 1971

Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Va.

Propulsion system: two boilers, one geared turbine

Propellers: one

Length: 636.5 feet (194 meters)

Beam: 108 feet (32.9 meters)

Draft: 26.9 feet (8.8 meters)

Displacement: approx. 18,400 tons full load

Speed: 23 knots

Aircraft: all helicopters

Armament: two 20mm Phalanx CIWS, 50 cal machine guns, 25mm guns

Homeport: Norfolk, Va.

Crew: 52 Officers, 790 Enlisted

Notes of Interest

Mount Whitney carries enough food to feed the crew for 90 days and can transport supplies to support an emergency evacuation of 3,000 people.
Mount Whitney’s distilling units make over 100,000 gallons of fresh water a day
Mount Whitney was the first U.S. Navy combatant to permanently accommodate women on board.
Mount Whitney serves as the Flagship for Commander Second Fleet/Commander Striking Fleet Atlantic.

As the most sophisticated Command, Control, Communications, Computer, and Intelligence (C4I) ship ever commissioned, Mount Whitney incorporates various elements of the most advanced C4I equipment and gives the embarked Joint Task Force Commander the capability to effectively command all units under the command of the Commander, Joint Task Force.

The ship's afloat communications capability is second to none. 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 most timely intelligence and operational support available in the Navy. USS Mount Whitney, the Navy's premier "Fighting Flagship," is the most capable joint C4I platform afloat in the world.

In 1999, Mount Whitney deployed to the Mediterranean as flagship for Commander, 6th Fleet, relieving the command ship USS La Salle (AGF 3). 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. 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, N.C., under the command of Maj. Gen. John F. Sattler.