USS Somers ( DD - 947 ) The sixth USS " Somers " ( DDG - 34 , ex - DD - 947 ) was a " Forrest Sherman " - class destroyer when her keel was laid down at the Bath Iron Works on 4 March 1958 , she was launched on 30 May , and commissioned on 3 April 1959 . In 1961 she won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award . " Somers " was decommissioned 11 April 1966 , and converted at San Francisco Naval Shipyard . On 15 March 1967 she was reclassified as a " Decatur " - class guided missile destroyer , and was re - commissioned 10 February 1968 . She was decommissioned on 19 November 1982 and on 26 April 1988 , she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register . On 22 July 1998 , she was sunk as target near Hawaii . History . On 1 June 1959 , the destroyer sailed from Boston , Mass . , to Newport , R . I . , before departing the United States five days later for her maiden voyage which took her - via Argentia , Newfoundland - to the ports of northern Europe . On her itinerary were Copenhagen , Denmark ; Stockholm , Sweden ; Portsmouth , England ; and Kiel , Germany , where she represented the Navy during the " Kiel Week " festivities . " Somers " took leave of Europe at Portsmouth , England , and - after stopping briefly at Bermuda and training for five days out of Guantanamo Bay , Cuba - transited the Panama Canal on 19 July . She arrived at her home port , San Diego , Calif . , on 27 July and conducted shakedown training along the California coast for the next six weeks . She underwent final acceptance trials on 17 September ; then , completed just over a month of overhaul from 1 October until 8 November . Vietnam service . Over the next six and one - half years , " Somers " alternated between operations out of San Diego and deployments to the 7th Fleet in the Far East . In all , she deployed to the western Pacific four times during this period , remaining on the west coast in 1962 and 1964 . Her first three tours in the Far East were relatively uneventful , peacetime assignments , consisting of 7th Fleet operations and exercises with units of the navies of the SEATO allies of the United States . During her second and third deployments , in 1961 and 1963 , " Somers " steamed to Australia to participate in the celebrations commemorating 19th and 21st anniversaries of the Battle of the Coral Sea . During her fourth tour of duty with the 7th Fleet , the destroyer saw her first wartime operations as American involvement in the Vietnam War escalated . She plied the waters of the Tonkin Gulf , plane guarding for , , and as their aircraft pounded enemy supply lines in North Vietnam . Conversion . On 30 July 1965 , " Somers " got underway from Yokosuka , Japan , to return to the United States . She arrived in San Diego on 12 August and , after a month of leave and upkeep , she resumed normal operations along the west coast . She continued to be so engaged until 11 April 1966 when she entered San Francisco Naval Shipyard to begin conversion to a guided missile destroyer . On that day , she was decommissioned at Hunters Point . From then until February 1968 , " Somers " was in the shipyard having 90 % of her superstructure replaced , receiving the Tartar surface - to - air missile system and the ASROC antisubmarine rocket system . In addition , her engineering equipment was completely overhauled , and she received a lot of additional electronic gear . On 10 February 1968 , " Somers " was recommissioned at Hunters Point as the Navy ' s newest guided - missile destroyer , DDG - 34 . Her conversion was completed on 16 May 1968 , and she departed Hunters Point the next day for her new home port , Long Beach , Calif . For the rest of 1968 and most of 1969 , the guided - missile destroyer ranged the west coast from Mexico to the state of Washington , conducting trials and exercises . Return to Vietnam . On 18 November 1969 , she got underway to deploy again to the western Pacific . She stopped over in Hawaii from 24 to 28 November and loaded ammunition at the Oahu Naval Ammunition Depot . Continuing westward , she paused at Midway on 1 December to refuel and at Guam on the 8th . She made Subic Bay in the Philippines on the 11th . During this deployment , " Somers " returned to the Gulf of Tonkin alternately plane guarding " Hancock " and serving on the gunline . During late March and early April , she joined units of the Australian and New Zealand navies in the SEATO exercise , " Sea Rover . " After that , she returned to plane guard duties , this time for . Two days after joining the carrier , however , " Somers " was detached to return to Subic Bay . She arrived on 19 April and remained until the 24th , when she got underway for the United States . " Somers " arrived at Long Beach on 8 May 1970 . After an availability period and an extended leave and upkeep period , the guided - missile destroyer embarked 35 Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps midshipmen for five weeks training during PACMIDTRARON 70 . The cruise commenced on 22 June and was concluded on 6 August at Long Beach . She resumed operations out of her homeport until 13 November when she got underway for another deployment to the western Pacific . " Somers " was assigned to the 7th Fleet from December 1970 until 4 May 1971 . During that time , she plane guarded the carriers on six occasions , rendered naval gunfire support on three , and once stood watch on the northern search and rescue station . In between line periods , she visited Keelung , Taiwan ; Hong Kong ; Singapore ; and Penang , Malaysia , in addition to putting in periodically at the naval station at Subic Bay . She cleared the Gulf of Tonkin on 4 May , headed back to the United States , and made Long Beach on the 23d . " Somers " resumed operations out of Long Beach until 9 July when she began a month of pre - overhaul preparations . On 9 August , the guided - missile destroyer entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard to commence regular overhaul . The overhaul lasted until 3 December and , following that , she went into a period of restricted availability which carried her through 31 December . " Somers " completed her restricted availability on 3 January 1972 and began trials , tests , and exercises which lasted through 31 March . After nine days of preparations , she headed west on 10 April to rejoin the 7th Fleet . Sailing via Pearl Harbor and Guam , " Somers " made Subic Bay on 29 April . After a voyage to Singapore and back , she joined the carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin on 9 May . Her tour of duty in the Far East lasted until late October . She cruised with the aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin five times during this deployment , rendered naval gunfire support three times , and stood duty on the south Talos station and PIRAZ station once each . Between line periods , she normally put into Subic Bay , but managed to visit Sasebo , Japan , and Hong Kong . " Somers " returned to Long Beach on 9 November 1972 . Two periods of operations from her home port separated by two months of restricted availability at Long Beach took up the first nine months of 1973 for " Somers " . On 9 October , she got underway to deploy to the western Pacific . Stopping at Pearl Harbor from 15 to 21 October , she made Subic Bay on 5 November . She remained on duty with the 7th Fleet until mid - May 1974 , when she reentered Pearl Harbor . As of mid - October 1974 , she was still in port at Pearl Harbor . " Somers " earned five battle stars during the Vietnam War . Sinking . On 21 July 1998 , two B - 52s from the 20th Bomb Squadron fired missiles at " Somers " as part of the Rim of the Pacific 1998 exercise . Each B - 52 crew launched one AGM - 142 Have Nap missile that struck its target set adrift about 30 miles northwest of Kauai . On 22 July 1998 , she sunk in 2800 fathoms ( 5100 m ) .