USS Mahan ( DDG - 42 ) USS " Mahan " ( DDG - 42 ) , named for Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan USN ( 1840 – 1914 ) , was a " Farragut " - class guided missile frigate ( destroyer leader ) laid down as DLG - 11 by the San Francisco Naval Shipyard on 31 July 1957 , launched on 7 October 1959 by Mrs . H . P . Smith , wife of Vice Adm . Harold Page Smith , ( CINCLANT at the time ) and commissioned on 25 December 1960 . " Mahan " was reclassified as a guided missile destroyer on 30 June 1975 and designated DDG - 42 . " USS Mahan " was decommissioned on 15 June 1993 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on the same day . History . During the first year and a half of her commissioned service , " Mahan ’ s " primary assignment was the testing and evaluation of her weapons systems , ASROC and Terrier missile s . A unit of the Pacific Fleet ’ s Cruiser Destroyer Force , she operated out of San Diego , participating in local and fleet exercises off the west coast and in Hawaiian waters . Leaving San Diego 6 June 1962 , she commenced her first western Pacific deployment . For the next 6 months she cruised with other units of the 7th Fleet , taking part in antisubmarine , antiaircraft , and amphibious exercises as well as making good - will calls on ports in the Far East . Included in these latter visits was a stop at Saigon 24 to 28 October for the Republic of Vietnam ’ s Independence anniversary celebrations . 1963 brought " Mahan ’ s " entrance into the standard schedule of the Pacific Fleet , beginning with a shipyard overhaul at Long Beach Naval Shipyard . Following her yard period , she conducted training exercises off the west coast . She then departed San Diego 6 August 1963 for deployment in the western Pacific . In addition to assignments in Japanese and Philippine waters , she spent ( on this tour ) a total of four weeks cruising off South Vietnam before returning to San Diego 10 March 1964 . Remaining on the west coast until late 1965 , she underwent a 5½ month overhaul , 1 May 1965 to 20 October 1965 , followed by test and training exercises and a demonstration of her antisubmarine warfare capabilities before members of the United States - Canadian Military Cooperation Committee 9 December 1965 . During the summer of 1965 , she embarked midshipmen from the Naval Academy and various NROTC units for summer training . Departing San Diego 19 October , she sailed to Pearl Harbor for antisubmarine training operations and then continued on to the western Pacific , arriving at Subic Bay 22 November 1965 . " Mahan " operated with the 7th Fleet , spending alternate monthly periods on patrol off Vietnam , until returning to San Diego in April 1966 . Upon arrival at San Diego 28 April , " Mahan " continued her previous west coast activities , local and fleet training operations , missile firing exercises at the Pacific Missile Range , and , as during the summer of 1965 , the training of midshipmen during June and July . August brought the installation of a helicopter flight deck . The period 1 December 1966 through 4 June 1967 again saw " Mahan " in the western Pacific where , as before , she operated off Vietnam , patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin PIRAZ station and providing gunfire support . Arriving back at San Diego 17 June , " Mahan " sailed on 31 July to represent the Navy at Seattle ’ s annual Sea Fair . Following further coastal operations , she entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard 1 November for overhaul . This was completed late in April 1968 and " Mahan " remained off the west coast until departing for the western Pacific in August . She remained as a part of the 7th Fleet into 1969 . In 1973 , after 13 years of almost continuous operations in Southeast Asia , she returned to the U . S . for a much needed overhaul at Bath Iron Works , ME . On 1 April 1975 , DLG - 11 was recommissioned at Bath . She then joined Destroyer Squadron 4 , homeported at Charleston , SC . On 1 July 1975 , the ship was redesigned from DLG - 11 to DDG - 42 as part of a Navy - wide reclassification program . " Mahan " served as the test platform for the development of the CG / SM - 2 ( ER ) missile program project ; a new missile , designed to greatly increase the operational capability of presently installed TERRIER systems . Following a regular overhaul in Philadelphia from April 1980 to May 1981 , MAHAN was selected to install and test the Terrier New Threat Upgrade ( NTU ) Combat System with the improved Standard Missile Two Block II ( Extended Range ) . Testing lasted from October 1981 - March 1985 . This New Threat Upgrade system made USS MAHAN the most capable AAW ship afloat . The upgrade was considered for the other ships in the class , but was cancelled since modernization would not have been cost - effective given the limited service lives remaining . From April to November 1983 , MAHAN was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea , serving most of the deployment as a member of the Multinational Peacekeeping Force off Beirut , Lebanon . MAHAN achieved another first in July 1985 , as she successfully conducted the first Remote Track Launch on Search missile firing . MAHAN celebrated her 25th birthday on 28 August 1985 and departed again to the Mediterranean . During the deployment , MAHAN participated in Exercise Ocean Safari 85 : a joint U . S . French missile exercise . She also represented Commander Sixth Fleet , serving as official starter for the inaugural Monaco - New York Yacht race , ( hosting Monaco ’ s Crown Prince and the Deputy Under - Secretary of the Navy ) . MAHAN also served as East Mediterranean Ready Ship off of Israel and Lebanon and was involved in the Gulf of Sidra Freedom of Navigation operations off the coast of Libya . After returning from deployment in April 1986 , MAHAN began a 10 - month regular overhaul lasting from September 1986 until August 1987 . In January 1988 , MAHAN successfully completed refresher training in Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . In the spring of 1988 , MAHAN participated in a joint missile exercise with U . S . and ships of the German Navy . MAHAN deployed with Standing Naval Forces Atlantic , from 17 June to 16 December 1989 . While acting as the U . S . representative of this NATO force , MAHAN visited eight different countries and worked with fourteen ships from nine NATO nations . The crowning achievement of the cruise occurred in November 1989 , when MAHAN added another first to her long list of accomplishments by firing the first SM - 2 Block II ( ER ) in Northern Europe . MAHAN ’ s last major deployment was in support of Operation Desert Storm from 26 September 1991 through 2 April 1992 . During the deployment MAHAN slipped quietly through the mouth of the Suez Canal in the early morning of 13 October , a sense of uncertainty and anticipation enveloped the ship . After five months in the heat of the Persian Gulf , MAHAN headed north , where she even crossed the Arctic Circle . The largest NATO exercise in over a decade , TEAMWORK 92 pitted the seamanship and war - fighting skills against a multi - faceted threat . After 33 years of faithful service she was retired from the active roll on 15 June 1993 , Naval Station Charleston , South Carolina . Decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 June 1993 , " Mahan " was sold for scrap to Sigma Enterprises on 31 August 1995 . " Mahan " was repossessed from the scrap yard and resold on 10 February 1999 to International Shipbreakers of Brownsville , Tx for $ 97 , 275 . " Mahan " was repossessed for a second time on 10 July 2000 after the scrap yard failed to take delivery of the ship in a timely manner . A contract to dismantle " Mahan " was issued in January 2003 to Bethlehem Steel - Sparrows Point of Baltimore , Md to dismantle " Mahan " . " Mahan " was repossessed for a third time after Bethlehem Steel went out of business and a new contract was issued to dismantle " Mahan " on 30 September 2003 to Metro Machine of Philadelphia , Pa for $ 3 , 000 , 000 . " Mahan " was completely dismantled on 18 May 2004 .