1980s
After a shipyard period in 1978, Gridley deployed to the western Pacific in 1979. As a result of the Iran hostage crisis, Gridley remained on station in the Indian Ocean and North Arabian Sea through mid-1980.
Upon returning to San Diego, California, in March 1982, Gridley was once again operating in Southern California waters, until October when she returned to Long Beach Naval Shipyard for an extensive upgrade and an overhaul of all engineering machinery. More upgrades were made to the ship's fire control and air search radars, sonar system was upgraded from the AN/SQS-23 to the AN/SQQ-23 PAIR, and the Phalanx close-in weapon system was installed during 1982. Gridley returned to the operational fleet in October 1983.
In July 1987 Gridley was part of the Ranger battle group, conducting strikes against Iranian oil platforms, returning to San Diego in January, 1988. The ship then departed San Diego, California for the Persian Gulf on 15 December 1988, operating with Spruance-Class destroyer USS John Young (DD-973) to escort reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz during operation EARNEST WILL. Homeward bound and transiting the South China Sea, GRIDLEY rescued Vietnamese refugees sighted in a small boat off of the coast of Vietnam. A Vietnamese-speaking crewman aboard Gridley was able to translate for those rescued, facilitating the process.
Gridley returned to San Diego, California, in June 1989. On October 17 of that year, the ship's visit to Naval Station, Treasure Island, California, was interrupted by the Richter-7.1 Loma-Prieta earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay area. Gridley’s crew provided assistance to victims in San Francisco's severely damaged Marina district, and was awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal for disaster recovery efforts.
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