USS John S . McCain ( DL - 3 ) The USS " John S . McCain " ( DL - 3 / DDG - 36 ) , originally designated the DD - 928 but reclassified in 1951 , was a destroyer in the United States Navy . The ship was launched by Bath Iron Works Corporation , Bath , Maine , on 12 July 1952 . She was sponsored by Roberta McCain , the daughter - in - law of Admiral John S . McCain , Sr . ( born 1884 ) , and commissioned on 12 October 1953 at the Boston Naval Shipyard , with Commander E . R . King , USN , in command . History . The USS " John S . McCain " spent her first year of commissioned service undergoing sea trials and shakedown training in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea . One of the " Mitscher " - class of large and fast destroyer leader s , she carried the new guided - missile armament , and she embodied new ideas in hull design and construction . This warship arrived at Norfolk on 19 May 1955 to begin service with the Operational Development Force in testing new equipment and tactics . She operated out of Norfolk until 5 November 1956 , when she steamed from Hampton Roads bound for the Panama Canal and San Diego , California . After her arrival on 4 December 1956 , she spent five months on maneuvers in the Pacific Ocean off California . The destroyer sailed for her first Far East cruise on 11 April 1957 , and after a visit to Australia , she joined the $ 3 Patrol , helping to deter a military clash between Nationalist and Communist Chinese forces . She returned from this important duty to San Diego on 29 September 1957 . The USS " John S . McCain " steamed to her new homeport , Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , in early 1958 , and she took part in fleet maneuvers and antisubmarine training for the next eight months . In early September the ship deployed to the Formosa - South China Sea area to help the Seventh Fleet deter a possible Communist invasion of Quemoy and Matsu Islands . She remained in this critical region until returning to Pearl Harbor on 1 March 1959 . This warship made her third deployment to the Far East in the fall of 1959 , departing on 8 September 1957 and moving directly to the coast of troubled Southeast Asia . During October she was off Calcutta , India , carrying medicines and donating food and money to flood victims . In January 1960 , this versatile ship rescued the entire 41 - man crew of Japanese freighter " Shinwa Maru " during a storm in the South China Sea . Returning to Pearl Harbor on 25 February , she began a well - earned period of overhaul and shipboard training . The USS " John S . McCain " departed on 7 March 1961 for another deployment with Seventh Fleet , spending six months off Laos and Vietnam . She resumed operations in Hawaiian waters after her return to Pearl Harbor on 25 September With the resumption of atmospheric nuclear testing by the Soviet Union some months later , the United States went ahead with plans for her own series of Pacific tests , and the " John S . McCain " steamed to Johnston Island on 27 April 1962 to take part in the experiments . For the next six months she operated between Hawaii and Johnston Island , departing for her next cruise to the Far East on 28 November 1962 . There she returned to patrol duties in the South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin , buttressing the South Vietnamese government in its fight against the Viet Cong . She also took part in Formosa Patrol in the Straits before returning to Pearl Harbor on 16 June 1963 . Antisubmarine warfare exercises followed , and the ship got underway again on 23 March 1964 for operations with a hunter - killer group in Japanese and Philippine waters . During this cruise she took part in exercises with ships from other SEATO nations as well as units of the 7th Fleet . " John S . McCain " returned to Pearl Harbor 11 August . She operated in Hawaiian waters until the spring of 1965 . The destroyer returned to Pearl Harbor , and then sailed on a 6 - month deployment in the western Pacific . In the fall , " John S . McCain " steamed off South Vietnam . On 24 November 1965 she shelled Viet Cong positions . Two days later she sailed to Hong Kong and ended the year in Japan . After further operations in the Orient early in 1966 , the " John S . McCain " returned to the East Coast of the United States . On 24 June 1966 , " John S . McCain " was decommissioned and entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for conversion to a guided missile destroyer . She was recommissioned on 6 September 1969 and redesignated DDG - 36 . Fate . The USS " John S . McCain " was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 29 April 1978 , and sold for scrap in January 1980 . Her entire class of guided missile destroyers was rather abruptly retired from service because of technical problems with their steam power plants .