USS Grand Canyon ( AD - 28 ) USS Grand Canyon ( AD - 28 ) was a built at the tail end of World War II , and named for the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River . " Grand Canyon " was laid down 16 November 1944 as a Maritime Commission type ( C3 ) hull , under Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 206 ) at Todd Pacific Shipyards , Inc . out of Tacoma , Washington , launched 27 April 1945 , sponsored by Mrs . W . L . Mann , and commissioned 5 April 1946 with Captain W . D . Hoover in command . Service history . After brief shakedown off the coast of Southern California , " Grand Canyon " departed Port Townsend , Washington on 26 June 1946 en route to Newport , Rhode Island via the Panama Canal Zone . She arrived in Newport on 20 July . Assigned the task of keeping United States Navy destroyers in operation , " Grand Canyon " cleared Newport on 17 September 1946 for her first tour with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea . After a visit to Palermo , Sicily , and a 4½ - month stay at Naples she returned to the States , arriving back in Norfolk on 1 March 1947 . Between 1 November 1947 and 12 November 1954 " Grand Canyon " continued her support of 6th Fleet destroyers , making six Mediterranean deployments . During this time she participated in some of the largest peacetime service operations ever undertaken . " Grand Canyon " continued her tender duties in the U . S . until 24 September 1956 when she again departed for the Mediterranean for her eighth tour . By 20 October the Suez Crisis had reached the serious stage and the majority of the 6th Fleet proceeded into the Eastern Mediterranean . During this period the " Grand Canyon " , as flagship , took part in fleet exercises and visited the ports of Augusta , Messina and Taranto . As the Suez problem subsided she sailed for Cannes , France on 20 December in time for the Christmas holidays . " Grand Canyon " returned to Fall River , Massachusetts on 13 March 1957 . The third of September 1957 found " Grand Canyon " underway with other units of the Atlantic Fleet , this time to participate in NATO fall exercises . By the 16th she had crossed the Arctic Circle operating west of Norway . After visits to Trosmo , Norway and the Isle of Portland , England " Grand Canyon " once again returned to Newport , arriving on 21 October . " Grand Canyon " continued her tender duties out of Fall River until 1 August 1958 when she sailed for Souda Bay on the Island of Crete to support the 6th Fleet in operations off Lebanon . For the next four months she supported destroyers and other types while helping to stabilize the situation and block aggression in Asia Minor . Besides Souda Bay , " Grand Canyon " visited Izmir , Turkey , Athens , Greece , Naples , Italy and Barcelona , Spain before returning home in December . " Grand Canyon " spent most of 1959 with tender duties at Newport except for duty at Charleston , South Carolina between 29 August 1959 and 11 January 1960 . She cleared Charleston on 11 January 1960 to participate in Operation " Springboard " , returning to Newport on 7 February ; thence to Bermuda and New York before returning to Newport . Between October , 1960 and August , 1961 " Grand Canyon " tended ships at Newport , Boston , and Norfolk . After her ninth Mediterranean tour August 1961 to March 1962 " Grand Canyon " returned to Newport and again took up her duties there until the fall . She proceeded to San Juan , Puerto Rico , arriving 3 November 1961 to start tending ships of the South Atlantic Blockading Fleet during the Cuban Missile Crisis and subsequent quarantine . " Grand Canyon " again helped demonstrate the mobility and versatility of sea power . She returned to Newport on 5 December . " Grand Canyon " made her tenth deployment to the Mediterranean between 6 February and 27 June 1963 . The ship entered Bethlehem Steel Yards in East Boston for modernization and refitting . With the completion of modernization on 3 January 1964 , " Grand Canyon " sailed for Guantanamo Bay and San Juan on training cruises . Returning to Mayport , Florida on 11 May , she tended destroyers there until her departure for Newport on 20 June for similar duties at that station . On 27 November " Grand Canyon " departed Newport for her 11th Mediterranean cruise , relieving the as 6th Fleet tender . She reached Palma de Mallorca in December and until 16 April 1965 tended ships in French , Italian , and Spanish ports . After returning to Newport on 27 April she served there and at Norfolk during the next 11 months . Between 29 March 1966 and 12 August she again served ships of the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean . During the remainder of the year she operated out of Newport . Into 1967 " Grand Canyon " continued to provide tender and repair facilities for destroyer - type ships of the Atlantic Fleet and the 6th Fleet . The USS " Grand Canyon " ( AD - 28 ) relieved the USS Yellowstone ( AD - 27 ) in Naples , Italy Nov . 1967 . " Grand Canyon " was reclassified Repair Ship ( AR - 28 ) on 11 March 1971 , and was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register 1 September 1978 . " Grand Canyon " was sold for scrapping in June 1980 to Union Minerals and Alloy Corporation of New York .