During a 'show the flag' patrol in the Persian Gulf during the Tanker War between Iraq and Iran, John Hancock was fired upon by an Iraqi Mirage fighter aircraft using an Exocet missile which narrowly missed the destroyer.

[1] In April 1988 John Hancock provided support in the Persian Gulf for Operation Earnest Will during a six-month deployment and was near the point where USS Stark was hit with two Exocet missiles launched by an Iraqi Air Force aircraft in 1987.

In March 1994, while deployed in the Red Sea, John Hancock, rendered assistance to a wounded Filipino sailor on board a merchant vessel.

Shortly thereafter, John Hancock reached a milestone, while conducting multinational maritime interdiction operations (MIO) to enforce United Nations sanctions against Iraq.

As a precautionary measure against oncoming Hurricane Fran, John Hancock was one of 13 Navy ships sent to sea in September 1996.

For NADOR 97-3, the crew of John Hancock operated with two Tunisian combatant patrol boats and increased the level of difficulty.

After evaluating the suspect merchants' answers, John Hancock's boarding team was sent to each vessel using a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB).

It also took part in NATO'S Exercise Dynamic Mix, from 23 September though 7 October which placed the John F. Kennedy Battle Group units on opposing sides.

John Hancock took part in the sixth International Naval Review (INR) in New York City from 3 to 9 July 2000.

John Hancock, who was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence, also presided over the Massachusetts Convention, which ratified the federal constitution.