The ship was laid down by the Bath Iron Works at Bath, Maine, on 16 June 1958, launched on 8 September 1959 by Mrs. R. Homans, sister of Mr. Adams, commissioned on 10 September 1960, and stationed in its homeport of Charleston, South Carolina.
Charles F. Adams was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 August 1990 and is being held for donation at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania.