she continued local operations out of Norfolk for the remainder of the year. The early months of 1977 were spent in preparations for Truckees forthcoming deployment to the Mediterranean. She departed Norfolk for operations with the 6th Fleet on 31 March. Following six months of providing fuel to units of that fleet, Truckee arrived at Norfolk on 21 October. A two-week, post-deployment standdown was followed by an availability devoted primarily to overhaul of the ship's entire Mk 56 gun fire control system. The close of the year found the fleet oiler in her home port. During the period 6 January to 11 July 1978, Truckee conducted operations in the Caribbean on four separate occasions. An upkeep followed; and then, on 25 August, Truckee departed Norfolk for a two and one-half month deployment to the North Atlantic. Port visits during the deployment included Rotterdam, Netherlands, Kiel, Germany, and Lisbon, Portugal. The ship returned to Norfolk on 30 October, and she continued local operations out of that port into 1979. 1980–1994 Truckee ended her operations as a fleet oiler with the United States Navy on 8 November 1979. She finished the last of her 25 odd years while assigned to Service Squadron 4, NAVSURFLANT in Norfolk, Virginia. She departed Norfolk on 21 January 1980 for Headquarters, Military Sealift Command (MSC) in Bayonne, New Jersey, for decommissioning ceremonies. On 30 January 1980 Captain Diego E. Hernández read his orders and then turned the ship over to Captain Richard O. Gooden, Commanding Officer Military Sealift Command. The oiler was then turned over to MSC as USNS Truckee (T-AO-147). After decommissioning, the Truckee underwent conversion, during which (most notably) all her armament was removed. As a member of the MSC, Truckees role was not much different. However, the crew changed drastically. Instead of a naval crew, a much smaller crew of civilians provided essentially the same service to the fleet. She was placed out of service in 1994, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 18 July 1997. Disposal Truckee was transferred to the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) on 1 May 1999 for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, Virginia. On 6 August 2008, Truckee was removed from the NDRF after being sold to Bay Bridge Enterprises for scrapping. References MARAD NDRF inventory, 31 May 2008 External links Neosho-class oilers Ships built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation