USS John Hancock (DD-981), a , was the second ship of that name, and the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Founding Father John Hancock (1737–1793), the President of the Continental Congress and first signer of the Declaration of Independence. History John Hancock was laid down on 16 January 1976 by Ingalls Shipbuilding, in Pascagoula, Miss.; launched on 29 October 1977; and commissioned on 10 March 1979. John Hancock was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and homeported at Charleston, South Carolina from 1979 until 1987. From 1987 onward, John Hancock was homeported at Naval Station Mayport, Florida Following commissioning, John Hancock proceeded to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for a 'shakedown' cruise and began making routine deployments. In March 1983, John Hancock reported to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi for a six-month overhaul. Upon completion of the overhaul, John Hancock then spent three months in Cuba where the crew successfully completed GITMO re-certification at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba before being deployed to provide support in the Persian Gulf in October 1984 to April 1985. Hurricane Diana caused John Hancock and numerous other ships at Charleston, South Carolina to emergency sortie out of the path of the hurricane in September 1984. During a 'show the flag' patrol in the Persian Gulf during the Tanker War between Iraq and Iran, John Hancock was fired upon by an Iraqi Mirage fighter aircraft using an Exocet missile which narrowly missed the destroyer. The missile heavily damaged a salvage tug that was directly in the line of fire. In April 1988 John Hancock provided support in the Persian Gulf for Operation Earnest Will during a six-month deployment and was near the point where was hit with two Exocet missiles launched by an Iraqi Air Force aircraft in 1987. In 1991, John Hancock deployed with the Carrier Battle Group to the North Atlantic for two months in support of Operation North Star '91. In March 1994, while deployed in the Red Sea, John Hancock, rendered assistance to a wounded Filipino sailor on board a merchant vessel. Shortly thereafter, John Hancock reached a milestone, while conducting multinational maritime interdiction operations (MIO) to enforce United Nations sanctions against Iraq. On 1 April 1994, a team of U.S. Navy ships -- John Hancock, , and along with an embarked United States Coast Guard boarding team—intercepted the 20,000th ship since sanctions were put into