page_title: USS Elliot (DD-967)
section_title: 1985 – 2003
hierarchical_section_title: USS Elliot (DD-967) / 1985 – 2003
caption_attribution_description: An aerial bow starboard side view of the US Navy (USN) Spruance Class Destroyer USS ELLIOT (DD 967) at sea.
context_page_description: USS Elliot (DD-967) was a Spruance-class destroyer in the United States Navy. Built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi, the ship was named for Lieutenant Commander Arthur J. Elliot II, USN, who as commanding officer of Patrol Boat River Squadron 57, was killed in action in the Republic of Vietnam on 29 December 1968.
context_section_description: On 10 July 1985, Elliot departed on her fourth deployment as part of the New Jersey battle group. Port visits on this deployment included stops in Hawaii, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Brunei, and Hong Kong. In mid-September Elliot was engaged in an exercise with Republic of Korea ships. During the exercise, Elliot rendered on-scene assistance to the Darter which was disabled during a collision with the merchant ship Kansas Getty. On 1 December Elliot departed Subic Bay in company with the Kitty Hawk battle group for transit to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii arriving on 12 December. Elliot returned to her San Diego homeport on 21 December, ending her fourth deployment.
  In May 1986 Elliot began a two-month selected repair availability which included installation of flight deck modifications necessary to support LAMPS Mk III helicopter operations. On 11 October Elliot arrived at San Francisco to participate in Fleet Week '87
  festivities.
  In January 1987, Elliot departed on her fifth deployment. Highlights off this deployment included operations in the Bering Strait.
  Elliot received a major overhaul in the 1988 / 1989 time frame, receiving, among other things, VLS, Phalanx CIWS, new TACAN and an upgraded Sea Sparrow system including MK 23 TAS radar.
  Elliot departed San Diego on 9 September 1989 to participate in PACEX-89, said to be the largest major naval exercise in the Pacific since the close of World War II.Elliot's course took it north to the Gulf of Alaska, then on to the Bering Sea, the northwest Pacific, East China Sea, and the Sea of Japan. Elliot made its sole port stop at Sasebo, Japan before returning home on 9 November 1989. During PACEX-89, Elliot conducted joint operations with other units of the Pacific Fleet as well as elements of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force. Elliot and its battlegroup were also overflown by two Soviet TU-95 Bear D reconnaissance aircraft. Another highlight was the group photograph Elliot participated in as one of fifty ships gathered in formation.
  Elliot departed San Diego for WestPac-90 on 1 February 1990 as part of the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) Carrier Battlegroup "Charlie." Ports visited included Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Pusan, Korea; Subic Bay, Philippines; Singapore; Pattaya Beach, Thailand; Diego Garcia, BIOT; Muscat, Oman; Fremantle; and Hong Kong. Elliot also participated in Team Spirit 1990 exercises with the South Korean military.
  While transiting the South China Sea on 20 April 1990, Elliot rescued 35 Vietnamese refugees left adrift in a derelict boat and claiming to be the victims of pirates. Elliot's captain, CDR Timothy LaFleur, made the determination to embark the refugees and scuttle their boat. After the refugees were fed and clothed (many in clothes donated by crewmembers), Elliot turned them over to a representative of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Singapore on 21 April.
  Elliot returned from deployment on 1 August 1990, one day before Iraq invaded Kuwait. Elliot then entered the NASSCO yards on 9 September 1990 and remained there until 17 December, thus spending the majority of the Persian Gulf War on the sidelines.
  Elliot deployed for WestPac-91 on 31 July 1991 with COMDESRON 17 embarked. Port visits were made to Pearl Harbor; Subic Bay; Phuket, Thailand; Bahrain; Oman; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and Hong Kong. On 21 October, while deployed off the coast of Kuwait, Elliot was alerted by the French DGSE ship Le Berry to the presence of a drifting Iraqi LUGM-145 mine approximately 12 nm offshore from Kuwait's Mina Al-Ahmadi port. Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit One, Detachment 31 team members were flown in from Bahrain. With the assistance of Elliot's air detachment the mine was safely detonated, resulting in a plume of water hundreds of feet tall. Elliot spent the Christmas holiday in Hong Kong before returning to San Diego on 20 January 1992.
  Elliot reported to Southwest Marine Shipyard, San Diego in May 1992 for a yard period where she remained until August. On 16 November Elliot departed San Diego for a five-week counter narcotics cruise. This cruise inc
caption: Elliot in November 1987 prior to removal of ASROC and addition of CIWS.
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