USS Sierra ( AD - 18 ) USS " Sierra " ( AD - 18 ) was a destroyer tender that served with the United States Navy from World War II to the 1990s . The second U . S . Navy ship to bear the name , " Sierra " was laid down on 31 December 1941 by the Tampa Shipbuilding Company of Tampa , Florida ; launched on 23 February 1943 ; and commissioned on 20 March 1944 , Captain P . B . Koonce in command . World War II . " Sierra " completed fitting out at Tampa and , on 13 April , sailed for Hampton Roads , Virginia , via Key West , arriving there on 18 April . The next day , she began a 10 - day shakedown cruise in the Chesapeake Bay area and a subsequent yard availability period in the Norfolk Navy Yard from 28 April to 17 May . On 18 May , " Sierra " stood out of Norfolk en route to San Diego , California , via the Panama Canal Zone . She was in San Diego for five days and , on 7 June , departed for Pearl Harbor . The destroyer tender rendered services to destroyers and destroyer escorts at Pearl Harbor from 13 June to 3 September 1944 . With the need for fleet repair units at advance bases to support the forthcoming invasion of the Philippine Islands , " Sierra " proceeded to Seeadler Harbor , Manus Island , Admiralty Islands . She was attached to the United States Third Fleet and serviced its ships until February 1945 . Her most outstanding accomplishments were the replacement of a complete 5 - inch ( 127 - mm ) gun mount on the battleship and rebuilding the starboard stern of the destroyer , which had been severely damaged by a " kamikaze " in Leyte Gulf . " Sierra " was underway from Seeadler Harbor on 18 February en route to Purvis Bay , Solomon Islands . She repaired a fleet of tank landing ships ( LSTs ) in preparation for the assault on Iwo Jima and then proceeded , on 15 March , to Ulithi , Caroline Islands . She serviced units of the United States Fifth Fleet there until 25 May when she departed for San Pedro Bay , Philippines , on Leyte Gulf . After hostilities . " Sierra " repaired landing craft support ships and destroyer s for the anticipated invasion of the Japan ese mainland , but the end of hostilities with Japan on 15 August 1945 ended the assignment . The ship sailed from the Philippine Islands on 6 September for Buckner Bay ( Nakagusuku Bay ) , Okinawa ; Jinsen ( Incheon ) , Korea ; and Shanghai , China . She arrived at Shanghai on 12 October 1945 and remained there until 6 February 1946 when she sailed to San Francisco , California for yard availability . Postwar service . " Sierra " was deployed to the $ 3 two more times in the next three years . Her last assignment terminated at San Diego , California on 8 April 1949 ; and , two months later , she sailed for Norfolk , Virginia , which was her new home port , arriving there on 29 July 1949 . She serviced ships there until 6 January 1950 when she was deployed to the United States Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea as relief of the destroyer tender , returning to Norfolk on 24 June . The tender was deployed to the Sixth Fleet again from 12 June to 6 November 1951 . Upon her return to Norfolk , " Sierra " moored at Pier 21 , Destroyer Submarine Piers ( D & S Piers ) . On 7 November , she was designated the flagship of Commander , Destroyer Flotilla 4 and retained this honor until 1 July 1962 when she was assigned as flagship for Commander , Cruiser Destroyer Flotilla 4 . " Sierra " remained at Norfolk until 1959 , aptly coping with the heavy demand by destroyers for repairs , which was her primary duty . For other than local operations , the longest period of time that she was away from the D & S Piers was when her services were required for Operation Springboard from 6 January to 2 March and again from 9 November to 4 December 1953 . " Sierra " sailed for the Mediterranean on 30 June 1959 for her third deployment with the Sixth Fleet and returned to Norfolk on 13 December to continue her work as destroyer tender . She was deployed to Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , from 23 October to 14 December 1961 to tend the reserve training ships recalled to active duty during the Berlin Wall Crisis . Modernization . " Sierra " entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 27 March 1962 for conversion under the FRAM II program . " Sierra " was out of the yard and able to resume her normal work routine on 15 September . From 1963 through December 1973 , " Sierra " serviced ships of the fleet at ports along the United States East Coast , but primarily at Norfolk . On 5 January 1974 , she moved to Charleston , South Carolina , which became her home port for the next few years . During that time , " Sierra " made two peacetime Mediterranean cruises and visited Spain , Majorca , mainland Italy , Sicily , and the French Riviera . Overhaul and hurricane assistance . In September 1979 , " Sierra " cruised one day behind Hurricane Frederic on her way to a shipyard in Mobile , Alabama , for an overhaul . The overhaul included the addition of female berthing quarters for the first female officers that began serving on the ship . During the first several months in drydock , her crew assisted the City of Mobile to help in cleanup and relief efforts after Hurricane Frederic . In 1981 , " Sierra " returned to Charleston for a short visit prior to going to Guantanamo Bay for exercises to get the crew ready for service . Don ' t Tread On Me . Sierra was the oldest active duty warship prior to her decommissioning . As such , she was entitled to fly the " Don ' t Tread on Me " flag denoting her as such . Decommissioning . " Sierra " was decommissioned on 15 October 1993 and was sold for scrapping .