The ship was designed under project SCB 14 and laid down as Maritime Administration Hull 27 on 15 May 1952 by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey, and was launched on 11 April 1953 as SS Diamond Mariner, sponsored by Mrs. Franklin Ewers.

During 1960–1961, she was assigned "Ready APA" duty, in which she maintained on board, at all times, a fully equipped and reinforced battalion of landing troops to be put ashore on short notice at any trouble spot in the Pacific.

She remained in the area in a ready status for a total of fifty-four days until tensions eased, then resumed her normal South China Sea patrol.

[citation needed] In January 1962, after returning to the U.S., Paul Revere accomplished a most dramatic rescue, when one of several helicopters engaged in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercises plunged into the ocean.

Operating several hundred yards from the scene, she launched a manned boat which returned the three crewmen of the helicopter to the ship for medical treatment, all in the space of six minutes.

[citation needed] Departing San Diego on 28 January 1964 for her fourth WestPac deployment en route to Pearl Harbor Paul Revere participated in "Coco Palm", a merchant convoy sailing exercise.

Paul Revere also participated in "Ligtas", a combined SEATO exercise in the Philippines during May, and operation "Minute Hand", conducted at Numazu, Japan in July.

As a unit of the Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) off the coast of Vietnam it engaged in operations "Belt Drive", "Fortress Sentry", "Formation Leader" and "Knox".

After a farewell ceremony on the deep water piers in Da Nang Harbor, the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines boarded Paul Revere and sailed for Okinawa in the first increment of America's withdrawal from South Vietnam.

On 7 November 1969, USS Paul Revere participated in an exercise with several ships and Sculpin, to test torpedoes on a decommissioned submarine, Bream, which was to be sunk as a target in the SoCal Op Areas.

During the time in the yards, it was refitted with modern ECM equipment and additional communications hardware to enable the ship to deploy as the flagship for Amphibious Groups I and III on a WestPac cruise in September 1970.

During the 1970–71 cruise, under the command of a naval aviator, Captain Charles Lindberg, the ship visited Pearl Harbor, Bangkok, Subic Bay, Okinawa, Sasebo, Keelung, Taiwan; Yokosuka, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The Ship went into Danang Harbor twice during the cruise and took part in FAKE AMPHIBIUS ASSAULTS to DRAW Noth Vietnamese forces away from Quan Tri City in SEP of 1972.

Allied response to the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive The Ship tied up at White Beach Okinawa frequently upon breaks from Nam it was also main HQ the 9th Marines.

After departing the US to begin the cruise, after passing Guam, the ship was shadowed by a Russian trawler until reaching its first port of call, White Beach, Okinawa.

Returning briefly to Subic Bay, Paul Revere made a hasty run to open water to escape being caught in port during an incoming typhoon.

The Spanish Navy decommissioned the ship on 6 June 1998, and in 2000 it was scrapped at Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain, the seaport from which Columbus embarked on his second voyage.