USS Butte ( AE - 27 ) The second USS " Butte " ( AE - 27 ) was a in the United States Navy . She was laid down 21 July 1966 by General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division at Quincy , Massachusetts and was christened and launched 9 August 1967 . She was commissioned on 14 December 1968 in the Boston Naval Shipyard and assigned to the U . S . Atlantic Fleet , originally homeported in Norfolk , Virginia . Service history . During the crisis in Jordan in 1970 , " Butte " was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for her peacekeeping role in that operation . From December 1972 to July 1973 she operated in the Tonkin Gulf and was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal with one battle star . Shortly after getting underway from Norfolk on 3 September 1974 , " Butte " suffered a major fire in the main switchboard , disrupting all ship support electrical supply . She was towed back to the naval base for repairs which included replacing the switchboard . In July 1978 , " Butte " s homeport was temporarily shifted to Brooklyn , New York where she underwent a major overhaul . In June 1979 , her homeport then became Naval Weapons Station Earle , New Jersey . " Butte " was awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal for a 1981 Indian Ocean deployment which also took her to the Mediterranean . A 1983 deployment took " Butte " to the shores of Beirut , Lebanon where she was awarded a second Navy Expeditionary Medal for her support of U . S . Embassies overseas , including those in Beirut , Lebanon and Tunis , Tunisia . During a 1984 - 85 Mediterranean deployment , she was rated as best ship in Service Squadron Two and , in May 1985 , was awarded the Battle Efficiency " E " in Engineering , Damage Control , Command Control and Communications , Navigation / Deck Seamanship and Fleet Support . " Butte " underwent another major overhaul in Mobile , Alabama from August 1985 to May 1986 . " Butte " was a big part of Operation Goldenrod during a 1987 Mediterranean deployment when she helped with the arrest of two Lebanese terrorists in international waters off the coast of Lebanon . " Butte " was in Brooklyn , NY for a short Phased Maintenance refitting yard period from April 1990 to September 1990 while Operation : Desert Shield was conducted . During the Brooklyn yard period , the ship was outfitted to accommodate its new female crew members . The shipyard allegedly did substandard repair work on the ship , and went bankrupt while the ship was in dry dock . The U . S . Navy sent the " Butte " to the shipyards at Naval Station Philadelphia for inspection of work already done by the Brooklyn yard and to finish the repair work . The " Butte " would later spend a month off the coast of Cuba near Guantanamo Bay for pre - deployment Damage Control and firefighting training . The Butte did in fact , deploy to the Mediterranean in support of continuing operations in the Persian Gulf and Kuwait , and the crew received the Southwest Asia Service ribbon . Final deployment . In September 1995 , " Butte " began her last deployment as part of the battlegroup . She spent October 1995 operating in the Adriatic Sea , supporting air strikes in Bosnia as part of Operation Deliberate Force . The ship also visited Cannes , France as the U . S . Navy ' s representative to the annual Admiral de Grasse birthday celebration . In mid November , " Butte " headed south through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea . The ship delivered turkeys and other supplies for holiday meals to United States embassies in Jordan , Eritrea , Yemen and Djibouti . Upon departure from the Persian Gulf , " Butte " returned to the Adriatic , supporting the NATO Peace Implementation Forces in Operation Joint Endeavor . Between operations in the Adriatic in January and February , she spent her time completing ammunition exchanges and " rollback " among the ammunition facilities in the Mediterranean . On her way home across the Atlantic in February 1996 , " Butte " and " America " conducted the last underway replenishment operation for " America " prior to her decommission . " Butte " was scheduled to return to port on 24 February 1996 , however , offsetting winds around Sandy Hook , kept her from entering port until 3 days later . Decommissioning . She was decommissioned on 3 June 1996 and placed in service with the Military Sealift Command , where she became USNS " Butte " ( T - AE - 27 ) . Like five of the six other ships of her class , she was overhauled upon the transfer : accommodations were improved , the main armament was taken out and she was outfitted for reduced civilian crewing . On 24 May 2004 , she was put out of service by the MSC , stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and transferred to the NAVSEA Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia awaiting her disposal . On 3 July 2006 , " Butte " was sunk as a target off the east coast of the United States using Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles and a Mark 48 torpedo fired from USS " San Juan " . Coincidentally , the previous USS " Butte " was also sunk deliberately in 1948 after use as a target ship in Operation Crossroads .