USS Pyro ( AE - 24 ) The second USS " Pyro " ( AE – 24 ) , an ammunition ship , was laid down 21 October 1957 by Bethlehem - Sparrows Point Shipyard , Inc . , Sparrows Point , Maryland ; launched 5 November 1958 ; sponsored by Mrs . Stuart H . Ingersoll ; and commissioned 24 July 1959 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard , Norfolk , Va . , Capt . Robert A . Patton in command . After fitting out at Norfolk Naval Shipyard , " Pyro " moved from local operations at Norfolk to Earle , N . J . to take on ammunition , thence proceeded to shakedown out of Guantanamo Bay , Cuba through 30 October . She called at San Juan and Kingston before transiting the Panama Canal to report to Service Force , Pacific for duty . Steaming via Lima , Peru and Acapulco , Mexico , she arrived San Diego 4 December 1959 . The fourth of a new class of ammunition ships designed from the hull up for carrying and transferring at sea the latest in munitions and guided missiles , " Pyro " spent the last part of December undergoing final trials at San Francisco . At Port Chicago , Calif . , " Pyro " offloaded her cargo , then spent the month of January 1960 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard . Through February the ship was at Port Chicago making preparations for her first WestPac deployment . She departed late that month , calling at Pearl Harbor ; Sasebo , Yokosuka , Kobe , and Iwakuni , Japan ; and at Okinawa and Hong Kong , while fulfilling her assigned tasks and providing underway replenishment services to various units of the 7th Fleet before returning to Concord , Calif . 15 August 1960 . A three month overhaul commenced 21 March at Willamette Iron and Steel Co . Shipyard , Richmond , Calif . " Pyro " then departed on her second WestPac deployment 9 August 1961 and again serviced units of the 7th Fleet , returning to Concord , Calif . 1 March 1962 . Local operations such as exercise " Pork Barrel " , in May , provided realistic tests of the capabilities of the ships of the Service Force . " Pyro " subsequently made annual deployments to WestPac after 8 October 1962 . Much of her at sea time was spent on Yankee Station in support of 7th Fleet Units operating off the coast of Vietnam . She entered the San Francisco Naval Shipyard 9 September 1963 for installation of a revolutionary new weapons transfer system called FAST — Fast Automatic Shuttle Transfer . The new system proved its worth during her fourth WestPac deployment , 12 January through 17 June 1964 . For her outstanding performance in servicing 7th Fleet units during the period 5 December 1964 through 23 October 1965 , when she conducted 227 ammunition unreps , she received the Navy Unit Commendation ribbon . Into the 1970s " Pyro " remained active with the Pacific Fleet , providing vital underway ammunition replenishment services during her annual deployments and refining her readiness and maintaining her high material and personnel standards during in port periods . In early 1994 , the USS " Pyro " ( AE - 24 ) was decommissioned , and after time at Bremerton , WA , spent several years at the Suisun Bay , CA , Nest A . In February 2012 , ex - " Pyro " departed San Francisco Bay under tow for scrapping at EMR ' s Southern Recycling in New Orleans , LA . Her recycling was completed by the end of 2012 .