USS Conyngham ( DDG - 17 ) USS " Conyngham " ( DDG - 17 ) , the third ship named for Captain Gustavus Conyngham USN ( 1744 – 1819 ) , was a " Charles F . Adams " - class guided missile armed destroyer in the United States Navy . " Conyngham " was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden in New Jersey on 1 May 1961 , launched on 19 May 1962 by Mrs . Carl B . Albert , wife of Representative Albert of Oklahoma , House Majority Leader and commissioned on 13 June 1963 , Commander Edwin P . Smith in command . The " USS Conyngham " , nicknamed " The Gus Boat " , was unique in that it was only one of three naval warships with shamrocks on her stacks ( the others being the and the . During her 27 years of commissioned service , " Conyngham " lived up to her motto , " Ready to Serve " . Her presence exerted a powerful influence during times of crisis and helped maintain peace as a component of NATO seapower throughout the Cold War period . " Conyngham " made 15 Mediterranean deployments — three to the Persian Gulf , seven to Northern Europe , and 11 deployments to the Caribbean . She distinguished herself during crises in Cyprus ( 1964 , 1974 ) ; provided air cover for planes evacuating Americans from an insurrection in Amman , Jordan ( 1970 ) ; took part in contingency operations during the Arab - Israeli Yom - Kippur War ( 1973 ) ; was the escort combatant during the evacuation of Americans from Beirut , Lebanon ( 1976 ) ; and conducted Black Sea Freedom of Navigation operations ( 1979 ) . During the 1980s , " Conyngham " continued to support United States foreign policy when she served off the coast of Libya ( 1982 ) ; was awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal for providing naval gunfire support of Marines stationed in , and off the coast of , Beirut , Lebanon ( 1983 ) and monitored maritime traffic off the coast of Nicaragua ( 1983 ) . She sailed with the Baffle Group in support of U . S . intervention forces in Grenada ( 1983 ) . While deployed to the Caribbean in 1986 , " Conyngham " was credited with four drug interdictions and was awarded the Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation Medal . " Conyngham " continued superior performance as she escorted U . S . Flagged merchant shipping through the Persian Gulf during the Iran - Iraq War in 1987 in Operation Earnest Will . During that deployment she sortied from Bahrain on short notice and provided assistance to after she was hit by two anti - ship missiles launched by an Iraqi F - 1 Mirage . " Conyngham " was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for her efforts in saving the crippled ship . In 1988 , " Conyngham " continue the " Gus Can Do " tradition during her deployments to the Fjords of Norway and Northern Europe . She completed her fifteenth Mediterranean deployment and received her fourth Battle Efficiency " E " in 1989 while part of the battlegroup . Mainspace fire . " Conyngham " suffered a severe fire on 8 May 1990 , while conducting pre - deployment operations off the Virginia coast . A major fuel oil fire erupted from the ship ' s Forward Fire Room into the ship ' s superstructure , isolating the crew forward and aft . requiring an all - hands effort to extinguish it . During the mass conflagration , the Operations Officer ( LCDR A . Pope Gordon , Jr . ) was killed and 18 other sailors were injured , some of them severely while putting out the uncontrollable fire . " USS Conyngham " was decommissioned on 20 October 1990 , stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 May 1991 and sold for scrap on 15 April 1994 . Conyngham was " broken up " in the Cape Fear River near Wilmington , North Carolina in 1995 .