Estes (AGC 12) - Naval Cruise Book

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HISTORY Since its construction in 1944 the Estes has had an interesting and varied history. Although built as the merchant ship MORNING STAR, the Estes was commissioned as an AGC on October 9, 1944. On her shakedown cruise the Estes headed south from Brooklyn Navy Yard, through the Panama Canal, to the Pacific, where she has remained. On January 3, 1945, Rear Admiral W. H. P. Blandy hoisted his flag as Commander Amphibious Group ONE. The Estes began her wartime service almost immediately, at Iwo Jima, and from there she went to Okinawa for the invasion of that island. From Okinawa the Estes headed back to the States, but by the time she had returned to the western Pacific, the war was over. For the next four years the Estes toured the China coast, returning to the States only once. Finally, when she returned in 1949, she was decommissioned, on June 30. With the Korean War, the Estes was recommissioned and was back in Far Eastern waters in the middle of 1951 as flagship of Rear Admiral T. B. Hill, Commander Am- phibious Group ONE. In April 1952 the Estes headed for home and a yard period at Mare Island. In September she began the first of a series of unusual tours. She went to Eniwetok carrying observers for the atomic tests that were carried out there. Returning to the States for another yard period, the Estes then headed for Point Barrow, Alaska, as fiagship for the ships carrying supplies to that desolate base. When she returned to the States, the Estes had a period of relative tranquility before leaving for Eniwetok and more atomic experiments, in January 1954. Upon completion of these tests she returned to San Diego for a month of rest and leave. In June Rear Admiral L. S. Sabin, Commander Amphibious Group One, came aboard, and on July 6, the Estes left for the Far East. This book is a record of that cruise . . .

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Rear Adviiral Lorenzo S. Sahin Jr. Commander, Ampbibioin Group ONE