The USS John Paul Jones' legacy of service to her country came to a somewhat sad but valuable end for DDG-32 on 31 January 2001. Having
outlived her usefulness as a seagoing warship she was decommissioned 15 December 1982 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 30 April 1986.
She then suffered the indignity of becoming a rusting hulk in the reserve fleet, first at Bremerton, WA and then at Suisun Bay near San Francisco. Her "last mission" was to serve
as a target for a missile SINKEX for the benefit of AIRPAC. Her final resting place is in 1988 fathoms of water at 032° 00' 06.0" North, 121° 36' 23.0" West, just off the coast of Southern California.
Thanks to Alan Owens, 3rd A/E aboard USNS Sioux (T-ATF-171) 2000-01 who contributed pictures 7 - 11 below showing DDG-32 as she was towed from Mare Island in San Francisco to her final location for the SINKEX.
Click an image to display it full sized.
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington Jan 25 1990: Laid
up at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility are the guided missile
destroyers USS John Paul Jones ( DDG 32 ) and USS Dacatur ( DDG 31) and
the destroyer USS Turner Joy (DD 951).
USS John Paul Jones DDG-32 - Dec 2000
USS John Paul Jones DDG-32 - Dec 2000
USS John Paul Jones DDG-32 - Dec 2000
"Pointy End" - Looking up from the bottom
USNS Sioux (T-ATF-171)
Hooking up the towline at Mare Island, 27 January 2001
Towing DDG-32 out of
San Francisco Bay
Passing under the Golden Gate Bridge
Towing in open ocean
DDG-32 near her final location after being cut loose the morning of the SINKEX 31 January 2001
