The USS John Paul Jones' legacy of service to her country came to a somewhat sad but valuable end for DDG-32 on 31 January 2001. Having outlived her usefulness as a seagoing warship she was decommissioned 15 December 1982 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 30 April 1986.  She then suffered the indignity of becoming a rusting hulk in the reserve fleet, first at Bremerton, WA and then at Suisun Bay near San Francisco.  Her "last mission" was to serve as a target for a missile SINKEX for the benefit of AIRPAC.  Her final resting place is in 1988 fathoms of water at 032° 00' 06.0" North, 121° 36' 23.0" West, just off the coast of Southern California.

Thanks to Alan Owens, 3rd A/E aboard USNS Sioux (T-ATF-171) 2000-01 who contributed pictures 7 - 11 below showing DDG-32 as she was towed from Mare Island in San Francisco to her final location for the SINKEX.

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	Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington Jan 25 1990: Laid up at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility are the guided missile destroyers USS John Paul Jones ( DDG 32 ) and USS Dacatur ( DDG 31) and the destroyer USS Turner Joy (DD 951).
USS John Paul Jones DDG-32 - Dec 2000		USS John Paul Jones DDG-32 - Dec 2000
USS John Paul Jones DDG-32 - Dec 2000		"Pointy End" - Looking up from the bottom
USNS Sioux (T-ATF-171)	Hooking up the towline at Mare Island, 27 January 2001		Towing DDG-32 out of San Francisco Bay
Passing under the Golden Gate Bridge	Towing in open ocean		DDG-32 near her final location after being cut loose the morning of the SINKEX 31 January 2001
	The Coup de Grace