USS Arthur W . Radford ( DD - 968 ) USS " Arthur W . Radford " ( DD - 968 ) was a in the United States Navy . She was named for Admiral Arthur W . Radford USN ( 1896 – 1973 ) , the first naval officer to hold the title of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . " Arthur W . Radford " was laid down by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula , Mississippi and launched on 21 March 1975 , sponsored by Mrs . Arthur Radford , the admiral ' s widow . " Radford " was commissioned on 16 April 1977 , and decommissioned on 18 March 2003 , after serving 26 years . On 10 August 2011 , her hull was scuttled off the coast of Delaware , to form part of an artificial reef . Early operations . Underway for the East Coast the day she was commissioned , " Arthur W . Radford " was forced to return to her builder ' s yard for repairs soon thereafter , but got underway again on 30 April . Touching at Charleston , South Carolina on 3 and 4 May , the ship proceeded to her home port Norfolk , Virginia which she reached on 6 May . Three days later , she steamed for Newport , Rhode Island , to provide support for the Naval Surface Warfare Officer Training Command . While the ship proceeded north , a LAMPS helicopter practice - landed on her helo deck to prepare for the embarkation of a LAMPS III detachment . The helicopter returned to Norfolk later that day 11 May . Mooring at Newport on 13 May , the destroyer remained there until 17 May , when she headed home . Soon after returning to Norfolk , she conducted gunnery exercises and helicopter operations off the Virginia Capes . The ship headed down the coast on 24 May and reached Port Canaveral , Florida the following day . After embarking Capt . R . K . Albright , Commander , Destroyer Squadron 22 ( DesRon 22 ) the destroyer got underway on 27 May and , for the next few days , conducted air , surface , and sub - surface surveillance of the surrounding waters while President Jimmy Carter , observed operations on board the attack submarine . The destroyer rendezvoused with the submarine prior to her initial dive and then again when the submarine surfaced . Throughout the operation , she provided support services for local and national press covering the Chief Executive ' s voyage . Underway for Norfolk on 31 May , " Arthur W . Radford " reached her home port on 2 June for local operations . While returning from waters off the Virginia Capes on 6 June , the ship ran into low - visibility conditions and winds in excess of 90 knots ( 170 km / h ) which disabled a radar antenna and drove the ship outside of the main shipping channel . At one point her fathometer read only 30 centimeters of water under the keel . Fighting her way back to the channel in the teeth of the gale " Arthur W . Radford " sighted a capsized motor vessel , " Dixie Lee II " , 300 yards south of Thimble A Shoals Channel buoy 21 . Unable to assist due to the shallow water and high winds , the destroyer notified the United States Coast Guard of bodies seen floating in the water . The destroyer then anchored in Hampton Roads until the wind had dropped and shipping , adrift in the vicinity , had moved off . " Arthur W . Radford " then proceeded to the West Indies for training operations including gunfire support . En route to Frederickstad , Saint Croix , in the U . S . Virgin Islands , in late June she conducted further weapons tests . Firing a gunnery exercise at Vieques , Puerto Rico , the destroyer returned to the eastern seaboard with a port visit to Fort Lauderdale , Florida on Independence Day 1977 . During this firing exercise , a dummy shell hit which was towing a target sled . Further work in the Bahamas , and at Guantanamo Bay , preceded her return to Charleston , South Carolina , on the last day of July . She then headed home where she arrived on 3 August . The ship returned to Pascagoula on 11 September for post - shakedown availability and remained in her builder ' s hands until she returned to Norfolk in mid - October . Entering the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 25 October for restricted availability , she remained there into the spring of 1978 before resuming local operations out of her home port . She principally engaged in ship qualification trials and underway training before steaming south to Guantanamo Bay and Vieques for refresher training and gunfire support practice , respectively . Following these evolutions , the ship returned to Norfolk on 30 July 1978 . On 23 August , " Arthur W . Radford " got underway from the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown Virginia , and headed for NATO exercises in the $ 3 . En route , she participated in Exercise " Common Effort " , carrying out escort duties in an " opposed Atlantic transit " , and briefly embarked Vice Admiral Wesley L . McDonald , Commander , U . S . 2nd Fleet . Next came Operation " Northern Wedding " a joint NATO exercise which began on 4 September and involved several carrier groups in an amphibious landing and many other facets of simulated naval warfare . During that operation , " Radford " operated alongside Royal Navy , Royal Danish Navy , Royal Norwegian Navy , Swedish Navy , West German Navy , and Canadian Forces Maritime naval units . During this exercise , the ship encountered huge seas from Hurricane Flossie . Following the conclusion of " Northern Wedding " , the destroyer visited Copenhagen , Denmark ; Rotterdam , the Netherlands , and Portsmouth , England . She again embarked VADM McDonald at Portsmouth on 16 October and wore his flag during the return voyage to Norfolk . The admiral disembarked upon her arrival at Norfolk on 25 October . The destroyer then operated locally through the winter , varying periods between in port for upkeep and getting underway for training . First deployment and interim . " Arthur W . Radford " cleared Norfolk on 13 March 1979 , bound for the Mediterranean and a tour with the U . S . 6th Fleet . Over the next six months , she participated in a variety of exercises and visited the ports of Catania , Sicily ; Split , Yugoslavia ; Trieste , Italy ; Alexandria , Egypt ; Cannes , France , Palma , Spain ; Barcelona , Spain ; Toulon , France , Théoule , France , Rota , Spain and Valencia , Spain . During the eployment , the vessel fired her first Harpoon missile in the Mediterranean on 28 July . Her target was the hulk of a destroyer , ex - ( later the Turkish TCG " Gaziantep " ( D - 344 ) ) . " Radford " also participated in Exercise " Multiplex 1 - 79 " in the Ionian Sea , Exercise " Dawn Patrol " in the Tyrrhenian Sea and Ionian Seas , Exercise " Tridente " out of Alexandria , and Exercise " National Week " XXVII , Phases 1 and 2 . While en route from Toulon to Theoule , France , she rescued the French ketch , " Laurca " , adrift from the French resort of St . Tropez . Clearing Rota on 12 September , " Arthur W . Radford " reached Norfolk on 22 September . Underway for Miami , Florida on 23 October , she served as the platform for deck landing qualifications for helicopter pilots en route , and , after touching at Mayport , Florida to unload a crippled H 3 helicopter from HSL - 30 , reached Miami on 27 October for a two - day port visit . After returning briefly to Norfolk from 31 October to 5 November , the destroyer proceeded to Halifax , Nova Scotia and participated in a training exercise with American and Canadian warships . During the course of Exercise " Canus - Marcot " she logged her 1 , 000th helicopter landing of 1979 . Returning to Norfolk on 21 November , she remained in port for the remainder of the year 1979 . For the first half of 1980 , the warship principally operated off the eastern seaboard of the United States , and ranged as far north as Halifax and as far south as the Caribbean , working briefly out of Vieques and Roosevelt Roads Naval Station , as well as out of Jacksonville , Florida . During this time , she also visited Annapolis , Maryland where United States Naval Academy midshipmen toured the ship ' s engineering plant on an orientation visit . Admiral James L . Holloway III , the former Chief of Naval Operations , visited the ship as well . FTG2 Mark ( Spud ) Coy left the ship on 20 March 1980 . DS1 Mark ( VD ) Vendeiro , plankowner , departed the ship on or about 18 June 1980 . ETN2 Grant Evans , Plankowner , departed the ship on or about June 1980 . Second deployment and interim . Following a brief period at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard , " Arthur W . Radford " prepared for another extended deployment . She departed Norfolk on 21 June , embarking HSL - 34 , Detachment 2 and proceeded to Roosevelt Roads , where she embarked Rear Admiral Peter K . Cullins , Commander , South Atlantic Force and his staff to become Cullins ' flagship for UNITAS XXI . Visits to Saint Kitts and to Bridgetown , Barbados , followed before the destroyer sailed for Venezuelan waters . Over the next four months , " Arthur W . Radford " operated with elements of the Venezuelan , Ecuadorian , Peruvian , Colombian , Trinidad and Tobagan , Argentine , Uruguayan , and Brazilian navies . Her ports of call included Puerto La Cruz and La Guaira , Venezuela , Rodman , Panama , Manta , Ecuador , Paito and Callao , Peru , Cartagena , Colombia ; Trinidad and Tobago , Santos , Brazil Puerto Belgrano , and Bahía Blanca , Argentina , Montevideo , Uruguay , and the Brazilian ports of Rio de Janeiro , Salvador and Recife . She also transited the Panama Canal twice during UNITAS XXI , the first time on 21 July 1980 and the second on 24 August . Completing UNITAS XXI on 4 November , " Arthur W . Radford " sailed for Gabon , as a unit of the West Africa Training Cruise ( WATC ) , reaching Libreville , the capital of Gabon , on 12 November . Over the next few weeks , she visited Tema , Ghana Freetown , Sierra Leone , and Dakar , Senegal . Clearing Dakar on 1 December , the destroyer stopped at Guadeloupe and at Roosevelt Roads on the return voyage and arrived at Norfolk on 15 December . The ship spent the next two years engaged in operations along the East Coast and in the West Indies mostly in underway training out of Norfolk , Roosevelt Roads , and Vieques and in refresher training at Guantanamo Bay . During the summer of 1981 , she operated out of Annapolis , training midshipmen . She underwent upkeep at Norfolk and Boston , Massachusetts and received an overhaul at her builder ' s yard . En route to Puerto Rico , the ship had a Coast Guard detachment embarked from 20 to 23 September 1982 , and cooperated with the Coast Guard on drug interdiction duties . Third deployment and interim . For the first few months of 1983 , " Arthur W . Radford " operated primarily in the Virginia Capes area , but ranged into the Atlantic as far as the Bahamas . After embarking Commander , Destroyer Squadron 26 , at Norfolk on 7 March to begin a nine - month period on board , " Arthur W . Radford " hosted Secretary of the Navy John F . Lehman , Jr . , on 29 March . A little less than one month later the destroyer cleared Norfolk on 27 April for a six - month deployment in the Mediterranean . Touching at Gibraltar on 10 May , " Arthur W . Radford " proceeded to Augusta Bay , Sicily , and thence moved to waters off the coast of Lebanon . After supporting the multinational peacekeeping force in Beirut from 20 May to 28 May , the destroyer visited Taranto , Italy , before returning to Lebanese waters for another brief period . During a port call at the Romanian port of Constanţa along with guided - missile frigate , the destroyer served as flagship for Vice Admiral William H . Rowden , Commander , 6th Fleet . Visiting Catania , Sicily , Monte Carlo , Monaco , and Livorno , Italy , " Arthur W . Radford " exercised with U . S . 6th Fleet battle groups later that summer , later visiting Gaeta and Naples , Italy . While visiting Istanbul , Turkey , she hosted the retired Army leader and former presidential advisor General Alexander M . Haig . " Arthur W . Radford " returned to the waters off Beirut on 18 September 1983 to assume duty as ready gunfire support ship . She conducted gunfire support missions against forces threatening the peacekeeping force on 21 and 22 September until relieved on station by the battleship on 8 October . Visits to La Maddalena , Sardinia , and to Tangier , Morocco rounded out the destroyer ' s time in the U . S . 6th Fleet . Operating briefly with Spanish Navy units en route to the turnover port of Rota , " Radford " cleared Rota on 10 November with the battle group formed around the carrier . She arrived at Norfolk 11 days later , remaining there for the rest of 1983 . " Arthur W . Radford " operated briefly in the Virginia Capes area in January 1984 before undergoing an overhaul at the Metro Machine Shipyard at Portsmouth , Virginia , between 16 February and 27 April . Subsequently undergoing sea trials and repairs in the floating drydock , " Radford " conducted routine training out of Norfolk through early August . The destroyer next operated out of Roosevelt Roads and off St . Croix before returning to Norfolk at the end of August and becoming flagship for Destroyer Squadron 10 . After then conducting underway training in the Virginia Capes area in September and October , " Arthur W . Radford " accompanied the recommissioned battleship to Roosevelt Roads . She later conducted gunfire support exercises off Vieques . Returning northward the destroyer took part in exercises off the coast of North Carolina before reaching to Norfolk on 20 November . Fourth deployment and interim . After local operations , " Arthur W . Radford " sailed for a deployment with the Middle East Force ( MidEastFor ) on 4 February 1985 , in company with . Rendezvousing with and near Bermuda two days later , and refueling from , the destroyer reached Rota on 16 February . She then visited Naples before heading for Egypt to transit the Suez Canal on 27 February 1985 . The destroyer touched briefly at Raysut , Oman , on 8 March before transiting the Strait of Hormuz the following day and entering the Persian Gulf . After touching briefly at Bahrain " Arthur W . Radford " got underway on 14 March for the Persian Gulf radar picket station . Five days into her time on station , she responded to a " Mayday " from the Liberian - flag tanker " Caribbean Breeze " which had been attacked and set afire in the central Persian Gulf . The destroyer provided medical advice over the emergency radio channel and launched a helicopter to render assistance . Refueling on 25 March at Sitrah Anchorage , Bahrain , " Arthur W . Radford " got underway to resume her radar picket duty later the same day , remaining employed thus until she moored alongside for availability . The destroyer resumed steaming on radar picket station again on 8 April , also conducting surveillance operations simultaneously . " Arthur W . Radford " embarked Rear Admiral John Addams , Commander , Middle East Force , on 17 April , and served as his flagship until 5 June . During that time , the destroyer served twice on radar picket duties in the Persian Gulf , the first from 17 to 26 April and the second from 23 to 29 June , and once on routine cruising . She visited the Sitrah anchorage twice during this period , and visited Manama , Bahrain , twice . After Rear Admiral Addams shifted his flag from " Arthur W . Radford " , the ship served two more tours of radar picket duty in the Persian Gulf from 6 to 16 June and 20 to 29 June . During the first of these periods , on 7 June , the destroyer ' s embarked Sikorsky SH - 3 " Sea King " helicopter from squadron HS - 1 transported a civilian rescued from drowning and in need of medical attention to Bahrain hospital , saving the person ' s life . " Arthur W . Radford " underwent her final upkeep in the Persian Gulf at Mina Sulman , Manama , Bahrain , from 29 June to 4 July observing Independence Day there before getting underway that afternoon to transit the Persian Gulf for the Strait of Hormuz . She conducted turnover to the destroyer the following day , and exited from the gulf . Stopping for fuel at Mina Raysut , Oman , on 8 July , " Arthur W . Radford " transited the Strait of Bab - el - Mandeb in company with " Antrim " on 10 July , and the two warships conducted freedom of navigation operations off the coast of the People ' s Democratic Republic of Yemen on 11 July . The destroyer transited the Suez Canal on 14 July , and replenished from the oiler that same day . Fueling from the following day , " Radford " conducted a port visit to Benidorm , Spain , from 20 to 23 July before reaching Rota on 24 July . Proceeding thence with " Antrim " , " Barney " , and " Charles F . Adams " , the destroyer sailed for Norfolk on 24 July . After visiting Ponta Delgada , Azores , and Bermuda en route , " Radford " reached her home port on 5 August 1985 . The destroyer remained at Norfolk into late October , preparing for a command inspection and operating locally in the Virginia Capes operating area . Early in this period , Hurricane Gloria prompted " Arthur W . Radford " to depart Norfolk on 13 September 1985 , and proceed to the upper Chesapeake Bay anchorage to ride out the storm . The destroyer returned to her home port on 21 September . Departing Norfolk on 25 October , " Arthur W . Radford " sailed for Nova Scotia , and arrived at Halifax on 28 October . After being briefed for her participation in an exercise , SHAREM 62 , the ship departed Halifax on the following day for Notre Dame Bay Newfoundland . Transiting the Strait of Belle Isle on 31 October " Radford " reached her destination on 1 November , and took part in SHAREM 62 until 6 November , when she sailed for Halifax . Following the post - exercise debriefing , " Arthur W . Radford " sailed for Norfolk , arriving at her home port on 13 November . Moving up the eastern seaboard , the destroyer visited Boston , Massachusetts ( 5 to 8 December ) before spending a brief period at Newport serving as Surface Warfare Officer School school ship from 9 to 12 December . " Radford " then returned to the Norfolk area , unloading weapons at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown from 15 to 18 December before conducting a dependents ' cruise on 18 December . The destroyer underwent a restricted availability until late March 1986 , running her post - repair trials on 29 and 30 March before proceeding to Yorktown to take on weapons . " Arthur W . Radford " operated locally out of Norfolk into late July , interspersing this work with a drydocking in " Sustain " from 30 May to 17 June , for repairs to her struts and stern tubes , as well as an inspection of her sonar dome . Following refresher training in Guantanamo Bay , the ship touched at Roosevelt Roads before operating at Vieques for gunfire support practice , surface gunnery exercises , and missile shoots . After visiting Fort Lauderdale , Florida en route , the ship returned to Norfolk on 12 September . " Arthur W . Radford " returned to Guantanamo Bay soon thereafter to embark HSL - 36 , detachment 6 , and then proceeded to Roosevelt Roads , where she arrived on 6 October to load ammunition , to take on fuel , and to embark a Coast Guard law enforcement detachment along with Commander , Caribbean Squadron and his staff . The ship operated in her assigned waters from 6 October to 19 October , returning to Roosevelt Roads to debark Commander , Caribbean Squadron and his staff . Detaching the Coast Guardsmen at Nassau , Bahamas , on 22 October at the commencement of the ship ' s port visit there , " Arthur W . Radford " sailed for Norfolk on 25 October , arriving two days later . As before , her stay in port proved brief , for she got underway on 3 November for the Bermuda operating area for exercises . One day out of Norfolk , she assisted in searching for a crewman who had been lost in the Cape Hatteras area . " Arthur W . Radford " conducted her exercises , SHAREM 1 - 87 before returning to Norfolk on 16 November . With the exception of a period underway in the Virginia Capes operating area on 9 and 10 December , " Radford " spent the month of December in port in Norfolk . Later career and collision . As of 31 August 1995 , " Radford " was to become part of Destroyer Squadron 26 . In May 1997 , " Radford " received the first ever shipboard installation of the Advanced Enclosed Mast / Sensor System which fully integrates advanced materials , structures , and manufacturing technologies with sensor technology , electromagnetics , and signature reduction to achieve improved warfighting capabilities . On 4 February 1999 at about 23 : 34 , " Arthur W . Radford " collided with the " Saudi Riyadh " , a 29 , 259 - ton , - long , roll - on / roll - off container ship , which was preparing to enter the Chesapeake Bay bound for Baltimore . According to the Navy , " Arthur W . Radford " was conducting calibration tests on electronics equipment at the time of the collision . The tests required the ship to operate in circles around an electronic buoy . " Saudi Riyadh " , meanwhile , was approaching the Chesapeake Bay from the northeast , preparing to line up in the shipping lanes before taking on a marine pilot for its eventual trip to Baltimore . When the two ships collided , " Saudi Riyadh " s bow struck the starboard side of " Arthur W . Radford " , about behind its bow . " Saudi Riyadh " sustained a four - foot - high , - long gash along the port and starboard sides of its bow , with most of the damage to its port side . " Arthur W . Radford " , more heavily damaged , sustained a deep gash on its starboard side , penetrating nearly into the main deck , ripping a pie - shaped gash and penetrating into the centerline of " Radford " . A hole ran from the deck to the waterline . The collision toppled its 5 - inch 54 - caliber gun and damaged Tomahawk cruise missile tubes . One sailor aboard suffered a broken arm , and 12 more had various injuries . " Arthur W . Radford " sustained an estimated $ 32 . 7 million in damages and the damage prevented " Radford " from leaving 26 March on a scheduled six - month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea with the carrier battle group . Repairs aboard " Radford " were completed on 13 September and the destroyer then deployed with the battle group . As a result of the collision , " Radford " s commanding officer was relieved . Fate . " Arthur W . Radford " was decommissioned in 2003 , then stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 6 April 2004 and eventually assigned to the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . On 8 June 2010 , the ex - " Radford " was transferred to the State of Delaware for eventual sinking as an artificial reef onto the Del - Jersey - Land Inshore Reef site ( ) , about southeast of Cape May , New Jersey and northeast of Ocean City , Maryland . After being scuttled on 10 August 2011 , the ship became part of the largest artificial reef on the east coast , and the longest vessel to be used for this purpose in the Atlantic .