USS Taconic (AGC-17)
The Adirondack-class amphibious force command ship, USS Taconic (AGC-17), was originally laid down in December 1944 at Wilmington, North Carolina, under Martime Commission contract as (MC hull 1710). Acquired by the U.S. Navy, she was completed and commissioned on January 17, 1946, at Brooklyn, New York. Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, Taconic trained cadets and midshipmen in the Atlantic and the Caribbean for the next few years. Following overhaul in 1949, Taconic was assigned deployments with either the Second and Sixth Fleets. In the summer of 1958, she served as flagship to Commander, Middle East Force, during the Lebanon Crisis. President Dwight D. Eisenhower also utilized Taconic in the late 1950s for personal transportation. In the mid-Sixties, she served off Haiti and the Dominican Republic during periods of unrest. In July 1969, she was redesignated as LCC-17. Decommissioned on July 17, 1969, Taconic was in the reserves until December 1976 and was later sold for scrap in 1982.
A model of the Adirondack-class amphibious force command ship was on display in the In Harm's Way (Atlantic Section) at the National Museum of the U.S. Navy, Bldg. 76, until 2022.
Image: NH 84642: USS Taconic (AGC-17), mid-1940s. NHHC Photograph Collection.
