USS Gridley (DLG-21) the "Spruance"-class destroyer to escort reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz during Operation Earnest Will. While homeward bound, 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 in June 1989. On 17 October of that year, the ship's visit to Naval Station, Treasure Island, California, was interrupted by the 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay area. "Gridley"s crew provided assistance to victims
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake large number of damaged buildings that held no victims. The quake claimed one life in Watsonville: a driver who collided with panicked horses after they escaped their collapsed corral. In other Santa Cruz and Monterey county locations such as Boulder Creek and Moss Landing, a number of structures were damaged, with some knocked off of their foundations. Many residents slept outside their homes out of concern for further damage from aftershocks, of which there were 51 with magnitudes greater than 3.0 in the following 24 hours, and 16 more the second day. The earthquake damaged several historic buildings in the