USS Yosemite ( AD - 19 ) USS " Yosemite " ( AD - 19 ) was a destroyer tender which served with the United States Navy during World War II through to the 1990s . The fourth U . S . Navy ship to bear the name , " Yosemite " was laid down on 19 January 1942 by the Tampa Shipbuilding Company at Tampa , Florida ; launched on 16 May 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Melville W . Powers ; and commissioned on 25 March 1944 , Captain George C . Towner in command . World War II . Between late March and mid - June , the destroyer tender was fitted out at Tampa . On 21 June , she got underway for the Virginia Capes , steamed via Key West , and arrived at Hampton Roads on the 26th . For the next 10 days , the destroyer tender conducted shakedown training in Chesapeake Bay and then put into Norfolk for additional outfitting and some modifications to her below - deck spaces . Early in August , she made a voyage to Fort Pond Bay , New York , to load torpedo es . On the 6th , she headed south to Guantanamo Bay and thence proceeded to the Panama Canal Zone , transited the Panama Canal , and arrived at Balboa on the 13th . From there , the ship continued her voyage west to Hawaii and arrived in Pearl Harbor on 29 August . Pacific Theatre . As soon as she moored , " Yosemite " went to work . For the next six months , the ship ' s company made repairs on over 200 ships . She remained at Oahu until February 1945 . On the 15th , she exited the harbor and set a course for Eniwetok Atoll in the Caroline Islands . She arrived there on the 22d but remained for only five days before moving farther westward to the forward base at Ulithi Atoll . She entered the Ulithi anchorage on 3 March , and her crew set again to work repairing the veteran ships of the war in the Pacific . On 25 May , " Yosemite " departed Ulithi in a convoy bound for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines . She arrived in San Pedro Bay on the 28th and resumed her work supporting the Fleet in its march toward Japan . She remained at Leyte through the end of the war but , soon thereafter , got underway for Japan . After hostilities . The destroyer tender arrived in Sasebo on 22 September and began tending ships assigned to the occupation forces in the Far East . That assignment lasted until March 1946 . On the 15th , she stood out of Yokosuka on her way home . " Yosemite " transited the Panama Canal in mid - April and arrived in New York on the 22nd . Postwar service . Soon after her arrival back in the United States , " Yosemite " became the flagship for the Commander , Destroyers , United States Atlantic Fleet . Except for several brief interruptions for shipyard overhauls , she served in that capacity from 17 June 1946 until the spring of 1962 . During that 16 - year period , she spent most of her time in port at Newport , Rhode Island , though on occasion she did make voyages to the West Indies . In addition , near the end of that stretch of time , the destroyer tender made two overseas deployments . In June 1958 , she voyaged to northern Europe for the purpose of tending ships engaged in an exercise in the North Atlantic . Later , on 17 March 1959 , she again departed Newport for a brief tour of duty tending the ships of the United States Sixth Fleet . She concluded that assignment when she returned to Newport on 24 July and resumed duty as tender to the Atlantic Fleet destroyers and as flagship for their type commander . Cuban missile crisis . On 1 April 1962 , " Yosemite " s role changed somewhat when the Atlantic Fleet cruisers and destroyers were brought together into a single type command . At that time , she became flagship for the new command , Cruiser - Destroyer Force , Atlantic Fleet . Late that fall , during the Cuban missile crisis and the American quarantine of the island , " Yosemite " departed Newport for a time and headed south via Norfolk to Kingston , Jamaica , where she tended the ships engaged in that operation . In December , she returned to Newport and resumed her normal schedule . Over the next six years , the destroyer tender remained at Newport except for occasional overhauls and for short voyages to the West Indies early each year to tend Atlantic Fleet ships participating in the annual " Springboard " exercise . Resumption of overseas deployments . In 1969 , the complexion of her operations changed somewhat . In April , she resumed overseas deployments after a hiatus of 10 years . She departed Newport on 7 April and arrived in Naples , Italy on the 19th . During that tour of duty in the Mediterranean , she served as flagship for the Commander , Service Force , 6th Fleet . The repair ship relieved her of tender duties on 14 August , the Service Force commander shifted his flag to the oiler , and " Yosemite " sailed for the United States on the 15th . On the voyage home , she took on board a badly burned West German seaman from SS " Sinclair Venezuela " and transported him to the naval hospital at Newport . On 24 October , " Yosemite ' s " home port was changed from Newport , Rhode Island , to Naval Station Mayport , Florida ; and the destroyer tender got underway for that city three days later . The ship arrived at Mayport on the 30th and began tending ships . " Yosemite " was then based at Mayport , serving as flagship for various units of the Cruiser - Destroyer Force , Atlantic Fleet — notably Cruiser - Destroyer Flotilla 2 and Cruiser Destroyer Group 12 . She made two additional deployments to the Mediterranean , one from July to December 1974 and the second from September 1977 to March 1978 . She resumed tender duties at Mayport on 12 March 1978 , continuing to engage in those duties through the 1980s . Her final deployment was to the Persian Gulf as part of the ongoing Operation Desert Shield campaign , departing Mayport in October , 1991 , with stops in Bahrain and the U . A . E . , returning in March , 1992 . She was decommissioned in 1994 . Decommissioning . " Yosemite " was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 27 January 1994 , and from December 1999 , was at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility ( NISMF ) at Portsmouth , Virginia , awaiting sale to a foreign government . During drydocking of the aircraft carrier in 2002 , " Enterprise " crew members from the reactor department removed berthing and other small components from " Yosemite " for re - use aboard " Enterprise " . Final disposition . On 18 November 2003 , " Yosemite " was expended as a target , sunk at a depth of 2340 fathoms ( 14 , 040 feet ; 4 , 279 meters ) . See also . List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy