USS Seattle ( AOE - 3 ) The second USS " Seattle " ( AOE - 3 ) , a , was laid down on 1 October 1965 , at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard , Bremerton , Washington ; launched on 2 March 1968 ; sponsored by Mrs . William M . Allen , chairman of the board of the Children ' s Orthopedic Hospital Association , Seattle ; and commissioned on 5 April 1969 , Capt . Bruce Keener III in command . After fitting out , " Seattle " departed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 24 September 1969 , en route to Norfolk . " Seattle " visited Long Beach , San Diego , Acapulco , the Panama Canal , and New Orleans , arriving at Norfolk , her designated home port , on 22 November . 1970 . " Seattle " left home port on 2 January 1970 , for Guantanamo Bay and shakedown training . On 13 January , " Seattle " took attack carrier , , alongside for refueling . She departed again on 19 January for more exercises and a visit to Port - au - Prince , Haiti , before returning to Guantanamo on 26 January . Following additional exercises and battle problems , " Seattle " steamed for Mayport , Florida , and thence proceeded to Norfolk , arriving on 12 February . On 26 February , " Seattle " was struck by a yard tug , puncturing a tank , and spilling black oil for almost two hours . The oil was quickly skimmed off the water , and no adverse reaction resulted from the mishap . " Seattle " departed Norfolk on 27 August for her first overseas deployment . She entered her first European port , Lisbon , Portugal , on 6 September . On 8 September , she anchored off Rota , Spain . Passing through the Straits of Gibraltar the next day , " Seattle " loaded cargo onto and then proceeded to the eastern Mediterranean Sea via Augusta , Sicily . The Jordanian Crisis had brought matters close to a boil , and " Seattle " served as the primary logistic support ship for and her escorts . Toward the end of the month , " Seattle " was one of 12 ships reviewed by president Richard Nixon . " Seattle " continued her support of " Saratoga " in the eastern Mediterranean until 20 October , when she arrived in Athens , Greece . Leaving Athens on 29 October , " Seattle " replenished ships until 9 November , when she pulled into Augusta , Sicily , for another one - day fuel lift . She then proceeded to Taranto , the Italian Navy ' s largest base , arriving on 12 November . " Seattle " departed Taranto on 16 November and continued replenishment of 6th Fleet ships . She spent from 25 November to 1 December in Naples . From 8 to 14 December , she was anchored in Barcelona , Spain ; and ended the year at Villefranche , France . 1971 . " Seattle " got underway on 6 January 1971 , for operations in the vicinity of southeast Sicily . On 17 January , she anchored in Naples , remaining there until 22 January . She operated in the Ionian Sea , the Algiers - Provencal Basin , and off Barcelona until 20 February , when she got underway for operations en route to Norfolk , arriving on 1 March . On 10 August , " Seattle " departed for Puerto Rico , arriving at Roosevelt Roads on 13 August . She operated around Puerto Rico , the Virgin Islands , Guantanamo , and Haiti before returning to Norfolk on 11 October . On 1 December , " Seattle " steamed out of Craney Island , Virginia , for a six - month deployment to the Mediterranean . The fast combat support ship arrived at Rota , Spain , on 9 December , and got underway on the following day for Augusta , Sicily , arriving on 16 December . On 19 December , she was en route to Naples , where she spent Christmas in port . On 28 December , " Seattle " ended her stay in Naples and was underway to Barcelona , arriving on New Year ' s Eve . At the completion of a seven - month Mediterranean cruise , " Seattle " returned to Norfolk on 29 June 1972 . She operated out of Norfolk for four months , then departed , on 24 October , for an unscheduled deployment to the U . S . 6th Fleet . She participated in " Bystander " operations in the western Mediterranean and in exercise " National Week XIV " before returning to Norfolk on 19 December . 1972 – 73 . " Seattle " spent the remainder of 1972 at Norfolk and the first six months of 1973 in operations from that port . In June , she began another voyage to the " middle sea . " This tour of duty lasted until December , with " Seattle " arriving in Norfolk on 1 December . 1995 - 1999 . The " Seattle " was deployed from its new Homeport recently changed from Norfolk to Sandy Hook Bay , New Jersey to take a crucial and important part , while no substantial bases and ports existed yet in the Persian Gulf , in the earlier and later actions in the build up to the Operation Desert Storm during the conflict of the First Persian Gulf War from the first weeks of August to the end of April next year , after the successful retaking of Kuwait and surrender of Iraq . Most of the main ammunition and other supplies for the Kennedy and Saratoga Carriers task Force to provide Air cover on the assault to liberate Kuwait and pressure on Iraq itself done by these two American carrier battle group s and supply of Allies countries vessels was done from this AOE ship . Returning to New Jersey and later a period of extensive repairs at the Naval Shipyards near Philadelphia Recent years . " Seattle " accompanied the carrier battle group on deployment to the Persian Gulf in June 2004 . On 12 August 2004 , " Seattle " rescued twelve crew of the Indonesia n flagged cargo ship " Edha II " – delivering the survivors to Umm Qasr Port , Iraq . On 14 December 2004 , she returned to Norfolk . " Seattle " decommissioned on 15 March 2005 . As of March 2013 the captain ' s gig of Seattle resides at Nauticus in Norfolk , VA On display at the pier ' s end .