Tucson was originally supposed to be commissioned on 18 August 1995, however, Hurricane Felix threatened the Virginian coastline, and the U.S. Navy decided to sortie the fleet, to prevent damage to ships in port if the hurricane made landfall.

In June 1996, Tucson was struck by the Military Sealift Command vehicle cargo ship USNS Gilliland while moored in port at Newport News.

Tucson left Norfolk, Virginia, passed through the Panama Canal and stopped in San Diego, California for five days.

[5] The ship traveled as far west as the Persian Gulf before returning to Pearl Harbor in August 1998.

It was during this period of time that the PBS series Nova filmed the episode "Battlegroups" aboard Tucson.