Ordered from Todd Pacific, Seattle, Washington on 27 February 1976 as part of the FY75 program, Duncan was laid down on 29 April 1977, launched on 1 March 1978, and commissioned on 15 May 1980.

[5] In March 1993, sailors aboard Duncan rescued four fisherman from Ecuador who were stranded on their disabled fishing boat in the Pacific Ocean.

The port visit became notorious following allegations of sexual misconduct with minors by crew members and the event's relative proximity to the Tailhook scandal and subsequent investigation.

[7] After Duncan was decommissioned, the story re-appeared in national media in 1996, following investigative reporting by the Dayton Daily News' Russell Carollo, due to complaints that the Navy didn't adequately punish the sailors involved.

[8] A grand jury in Sitka indicted two Duncan sailors on sexual assault charges,[9] but the cases were dismissed in January 1997 due to prosecutorial delay and the Judge's determination that the two had already been tried by the Navy.