USS Kinkaid ( DD - 965 ) USS " Kinkaid " ( DD - 965 ) , named for Admiral Thomas C . Kinkaid USN ( 1888 – 1972 ) , was a built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula , Mississippi . History . Between the late evening of February 22 and the early morning of February 23 , 1979 , 25 construction workers from Texas , constructing a naval base in the port of Char Bahar , were evacuated in the early morning hours by the USS Kinkaid , and they were brought to the small island of Bahrain . This became known as the " Gulf of Aden / Yemen Indian Ocean Contingency Operation of 12 / 8 / 79 - 6 / 6 / 79 " . The men of the USS Kinkaid were awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal and the Armed Forces Humanitarian Service medal . In November 1989 , " Kinkaid " and the Panamanian - registered freighter M / V " Kota Petani " were involved in a collision in the Strait of Malacca . The collision caused one death and 15 other casualties to the " Kinkaid " ' s crew , and US $ 15 million in damages to " Kinkaid " . ( The sailor who died was Lieutenant Sean Michael McPhee of Santa Rosa , CA and was a recent graduate of NROTC at UC Berkeley . ) She made Singapore under her own power for temporary repairs , then Subic Bay , Philippines , then San Diego for permanent repairs . On 4 July 1993 , " Kinkaid " paid a three - day port visit to Acajutla , marking the first visit by a U . S . warship to El Salvador in more than a dozen years . " Kinkaid " was then assigned to Destroyer Squadron 13 in San Diego and was , at the time , conducting two months of routine operations under the operational command of Joint Task Force Four , located in Key West , Florida . " Kinkaid " returned to San Diego in mid - August . " Kinkaid " deployed on 10 November 1994 , as part of the carrier battle group for a six - month deployment to the western $ 3 , Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf . She spent most of December in the Western Pacific . With the " Constellation " carrier battle group , she entered the Persian Gulf , on 11 January 1995 , and departed it on 23 March . The " Constellation " carrier battle group conducted several exercises during the deployment , including Beachcrest 95 , a routine annual exercise that included air combat , air control and air - to - ground combat support training in designated areas on Okinawa and Ie Shima ; Nautical Swimmer 95 - 2 and Nautical Artist 95 - 2 , naval air and surface exercises intended to improve interoperability between forces of the U . S . and friendly Persian Gulf nations ; Beacon Flash 95 - 1 , a combined naval tactical air exercise to improve readiness with friendly Persian Gulf nations ; Eager Archer 95 - 1 , an air training exercise between units of CVW 2 and Kuwait that provided dissimilar air combat training , formal joint strike training and in - flight refueling training for the Kuwaiti air force ; and Sharem 110 , a U . S . anti - submarine warfare ( ASW ) training exercise in the Gulf of Oman involving several battle group units . The battle group also conducted exercises with units of the Royal Australian Navy off the coast of western Australia . " Kinkaid " made its seventh deployment and supported the battle group by performing the anti - submarine warfare mission . " Kinkaid " underwent a period of overhaul in June 1995 . As a result of a reorganization of the Pacific Fleet ' s surface ships into six core battle groups and eight destroyer squadrons , " Kinkaid " was reassigned to Destroyer Squadron 21 . The reorganization was scheduled to have been completed by 1 October 1995 , with homeport changes to be completed within the next year . In mid - 1997 , as part of the carrier battle group , " Kinkaid " took part in Pacific Joint Task Force Exercise 97 - 2 ( JTFEX 97 - 2 ) . The exercise was conducted off the coast of southern California and also included units from the Air Force , Army and Japan . " Nimitz " , from 20 July through 24 July , then conducted a warfighting demonstration called Surge Exercise ( SURGEX ) , during which it demonstrated the firepower of the carrier / airwing team and its ability to sustain continuous operations in support of forces ashore in the initial four days of a conflict when a deployed carrier might be the only asset available to provide such support . During the exercise , , " Kinkaid " and practiced maritime interception operations . " Kinkaid " also escorted the civilian merchant ship " Viking Serenade " through the simulated " war zone " . " Kinkaid " then deployed as part of the " Nimitz " carrier battle group . After Western Pacific visits in Yokosuka , Japan , and Hong Kong , a planned visit to Singapore was canceled when Iraq violated a United Nations imposed " no fly " zone . With " Nimitz " directed to proceed to the region immediately to reinforce Operation Southern Watch operations , " Kinkaid " arrived in the Persian Gulf on 12 October after transiting the Strait of Hormuz . During " Nimitz " ' s deployment in the Persian Gulf , " Kinkaid " was accused by Iran of spying on its military exercises . " Kinkaid " was , however , in port in Bahrain at the purported time Iran claimed the spying was taking place . " Kinkaid " returned on 28 February 1998 , from a six - month Persian Gulf deployment . During the deployment " Kinkaid " served as Tomahawk ready strike platform , helped enforce the no - fly zone in Southern Iraq and conducted maritime interception operations . " Kinkaid " was part of the " Constellation " carrier battle group , as the " Constellation " officially relieved in the Persian Gulf in September 1999 . The " Constellation " carrier battle group then spent the next 10 weeks in the Persian Gulf and conducted maritime interception operation boardings as well as flew combat air patrols over the Iraqi no - fly zones in support of Operation Southern Watch . During the period , " Kinkaid " rescued the M / V " Sima Star " , a container ship , from sinking 70 miles ( 130 km ) off the coast of Bahrain after taking on over 40 tons of water . " Kinkaid " sailors dewatered the fully loaded container ship , which was listing 15 degrees to the port side . After seven hours of battling poor ventilation and flooding below decks , " Kinkaid " ' s rescue and assistance team was able to return the " Sima Star " to a five - degree list , allowing its crew to sail into Bahrain the following Monday morning for repairs . " Kinkaid " returned home on 17 December 1999 , after a six - months deployment . During its 10 - week patrol in the Persian Gulf region , the " Constellation " carrier battle group flew more than 5 , 000 casualty - free sorties , including nearly 1 , 300 in support of Operation Southern Watch . These flights included nine separate combat strikes and more than 43 tons of ordnance expended on various Iraqi air defense sites in response to Iraqi aggression against coalition aircraft . " Kinkaid " began , on 15 March 2001 , a scheduled six - month 2001 Western Pacific ( WestPac ) deployment while attached to the " Constellation " carrier battle group ( CVBG ) and Amphibious Ready Group ( ARG ) . The entire battle group had trained the previous six months in preparation for this deployment through a series of increasingly challenging exercises and operations . These pre - deployment exercises culminated in February 2001 with the successful completion of Joint Task Force Exercise 01 - 1 . Over the following six months , battle group ships conducted multi - national and joint operations with the navies of various allied countries and visit ports in Western Pacific and Persian Gulf nations . The ships and squadrons were scheduled to return home in September . Sea swap . The U . S . Navy Surface Force was scheduled to begin , in the summer of 2002 , an initiative to test the effectiveness of deploying a single ship for 18 - months while swapping out crews at six - month intervals . Called Sea Swap , this initial two - phased initiative would involve three " Spruance " - class destroyers ( DDs ) — , " Kinkaid " and , and three " Arleigh Burke " - class destroyers ( DDGs ) — , , and . For the DD phase , " Fletcher " and her crew would deploy with their battle group this summer , but after six months , only the crew would return . The ship would remain deployed and be manned by the crew from " Kinkaid " . After completing their training cycle and decommissioning " Kinkaid " , these sailors would fly to a port in either Australia or Singapore to assume ownership of " Fletcher " and steam her back on - station . After six months , they would be replaced by the crew from " Oldendorf " who would have completed the same training and decommissioning schedule with their ship before flying out to relieve the " Kinkaid " crew . After four more months on station , the " Oldendorf " crew would then bring " Fletcher " back to the United States where it too would be decommissioned . Additionally , by executing this plan , the Navy would be able to eliminate the deployment of because the additional on - station time generated by swapping out the crews meant a ship would already be in theater meeting that requirement . Fate . " Kinkaid " was decommissioned 7 January 2003 and placed at Pearl Harbor NISMF . " Kinkaid " was stricken 6 April 2004 and sunk during RIMPAC 2004 exercise as a target 14 July 2004 at 22°55 ′ 13 . 5 ″ N 159°59 ′ 40 . 5 ″ W in 2 , 548 fathoms ( 4 , 660 m ) of water .