work up period in preparation for deployment to the Persian Gulf on 5 February 1987. During her deployment, she served under the Commander, Middle East Forces. Coontz was tasked with ensuring the safe passage of all U.S. vessels as well as maintaining U.S. presence in the Persian Gulf during the escalation of the Iran–Iraq War. Commander Gnerlich was relieved as Commanding Officer by Commander William W. Cobb, Jr. on 11 April 1987. During deployment in the Persian Gulf, Coontz provided firefighting teams which aided in the rescue of USS Stark and her crew after she was struck by Iraqi Exocet missiles. Coontz returned to her home port of Norfolk, Virginia on 5 August 1987. Following a three-month maintenance availability (SRA) she operated as part of the United States Second Fleet until the end of her career. Decommissioning Commander Cobb was relieved as Commanding Officer by Commander W.E. Cox on 21 July 1989. Commander Cox oversaw the decommissioning of Coontz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 2 October 1989. She was sold for scrapping in April 1994, but had to be repossessed in October 1996. The ship was sold again in February 1999 to Metro Machine of Philadelphia. Although a few bits and pieces of her remain in private collections, the bulk of the ship was dismantled. The scrapping of USS Coontz was completed on 26 March 2003 in Philadelphia, with the scrap metal being sold to Camden Iron and Metal in Camden, New Jersey. In 2006, the USS Coontz Association, composed of former officers and crew of USS Coontz, obtained the transom of ship from a private collector who had saved it from the scrap heap. The transom, which bears the name of the ship, was then donated to the city of Hannibal, Missouri, birthplace of the ship's namesake, Admiral Robert. E. Coontz. On 31 March 2007, several former crew members of Coontz'', Navy deputy chief of information Admiral Nathan Jones and Hannibal city officials dedicated the transom at Nipper Park. The dedication occurred 50 years to the month after the laying of the keel of the ship. References External links Naval History and Heritage Command – Photos of USS Coontz USS Coontz Association Farragut-class destroyers (1958) Cold War destroyers of the United States Vietnam War destroyers of the United States 1958 ships