Savannah arrived in Subic Bay, Philippines, on 20 May and began a five-month tour replenishing the fleet along the coast of Vietnam.

The ship visited the Brooklyn Navy Yard again in 1980–1981, which saw the installation of a Sea Sparrow missile system and Phalanx CIWS.

From 2 December 1991 to 6 June 1992 the ship deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean with the USS America (CV-66) carrier group.

[2] From 11 August 1993 to 5 February 1994 the ship deployed to the Mediterranean Sea, including a trip with the USS America carrier group through the Suez Canal to the Indian Ocean on 1 November 1993 in support of U.N. efforts in Somalia.

On 27 January 2009, the Department of Transportation signed a fee for service contract worth $515,726 with ESCO Marine of Brownsville, Texas, to scrap ex-Savannah.

Extensive footage of the ship was featured, chronicling the struggles with removing toxic items like asbestos before salvaging and cut up.