Cowpens' keel was laid 23 December 1987, at Bath Iron Works; she was launched 11 March 1989, and sponsored by Lucy Mustin, wife of Vice Admiral Henry C.

[3][4] In June 1994, Cowpens deployed with USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) and her Battlegroup to the Korean Peninsula during the 1994 Nuclear Crisis in the region.

[5][6] On 30 August, Cowpens was overflown by two ROCAF F-5 Tigers while moving to rejoin the Kitty Hawk Battlegroup following a port visit to British Hong Kong.

During mid-December, a visit to Bahrain was cut short as Cowpens was ordered to observe the firing of Iranian C-802 cruise missiles from Jask.

[9] In March 2003, Cowpens, assigned to Carrier Group Five, became the first United States Navy ship to launch ordnance in the opening stages of the Iraq War, firing Tomahawk cruise missiles.

[20] Pentagon spokesman Steve Warren said that American procedures had not been changed in light of the incident, but defense analyst Tim Brown said that it reflected "a growing willingness by the Chinese to engage in potentially reckless behavior".

Navy Undersecretary Erik Raven stated that this was due to the ship's "material condition, life remaining, cost, ... time to upgrade ... and the warfighting value.

He relieved Captain Moore, who had just been promoted to rear admiral, on 2 February 1993 in Bahrain and was on board when the ship took part in the Tomahawk strike on 17 January.

He is prominently mentioned in the book Tanker War, which chronicles this tense conflict between Iran and the United States.

The punishment followed an investigation which verified allegations of cruelty and maltreatment toward her crew and conduct unbecoming an officer – violations of articles 93 and 133 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, by Graf during her tenure as captain of Cowpens.

[26][27][28] A subsequent Time article revealed that Graf had a history of abusive treatment of subordinates in earlier command and non-command assignments and that naval leaders had not acted on previous complaints about her behavior.

[29] The US Navy forced Graf into early retirement in 2012, but allowed her to do so at her current rank of captain and under "honorable circumstances.

The Chief Engineer was found guilty of two counts of failure to obey lawful orders and one of conduct unbecoming an officer.