disembarked at Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on the 14th. On the 15th Anchorage began the passage home. She stopped at Pearl Harbor from the 26th to the 28th and arrived in Del Mar, Calif., on 3 September 1985. The following day, Anchorage moved to Long Beach where she began a five-week post-deployment stand-down. With her return to active operations on 10 October, Anchorage embarked upon an extended period of local operations that occupied her not only during the remainder of 1985 but for the whole of 1986 as well. 1987 As of the beginning of 1987, Anchorage was moored at Long Beach. In January 1987, Anchorage got underway for her Westpac deployment. Whilst in the Bering Sea, the ship and crew battled 90-foot (27 m) seas sailing through an area where two cyclones had merged. Unfortunately, the USS Belleau Wood (LHA 3) received extensive damage from the storm which led to an extended stay in the naval shipyards at Subic Bay. Other ports of call during the deployment included Okinawa, Japan; Pohang and Pusan, Korea; Pattaya Beach, Thailand; Hobart, Tasmania and Pearl Harbor, HI. Anchorage had the privilege to turn sailors and Marines into Golden Shellbacks on 4 March 1987 when she crossed the Equator and the International Dateline simultaneously. During the 1987 crossing, Anchorage was hosting Golf Battery 3/12. After the Crossing the Line Ceremony at the Equator, Belleau Wood lost power as both engines and one of two generators stopped, causing her to drift for 5 days at sea and have to be towed by the Anchorage. Destined for Tasmania, the Belleau Wood limped into Sydney Harbor for repairs to the boilers while the Anchorage replaced her in Tasmania. This left the Belleau Wood with the unfortunate nickname 'The USS Driftwood'. Operation Desert Storm 1991 In 1991, she served in Operation Desert Storm. 1994 In 1994, she served in Operation Continue Hope in Mogadishu, Somalia. Also while there assisted in Operation Quick Draw and Operation Distant Runner with the Hotel Rwanda incident and Burundi. 1996 In 1996, following completion of a deployment during which she supported Operation Southern Watch in the Persian Gulf, Anchorage entered dry dock for her final dry dock planned maintenance availability during which she received numerous systems upgrades and modifications. USS Cole bombing 2000 Later in 2000 she was used to assist following her bombing in Yemen. Middle East operations – decommissioning 2003 In July