The plank owners also crossed the International Date Line, Equator, Greenwich Meridian, and sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Suez and Panama Canals.

Port visits included Pearl Harbor; Subic Bay in the Republic of the Philippines; Karachi, Pakistan; Mombasa, Kenya; Maxime, France; Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; and St. Croix and St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

[1] The ship's second deployment began in June 1988, returning her to operations in the Persian Gulf shortly after the cease-fire between Iran and Iraq.

Vandegrift's mission while on patrol in the northern Persian Gulf focused on providing protection and logistic support for joint forces in the area.

Port visits included Pearl Harbor; Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines; Bahrain; Pattaya Beach, Thailand and Hong Kong.

Ports of call included Doha, Qatar; Dubai, Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Karachi, Pakistan; Phuket, Thailand; Goa, India; Bahrain; Hong Kong; Singapore and Guam, and earned the Chief of Naval Operations LAMPS Helicopter Safety Award.

[5] Due to extensive shipyard time and the closing of Naval Station Long Beach, from 3 February 1993, Vandegrift was homeported in San Diego, CA.

Ports of call included Sasebo, Japan; Manila, Republic of the Philippines; Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates; Bahrain; Singapore and Hong Kong.

[1] Between 1998 and 2000, the ship performed numerous cruises to South Korea, Thailand, China, Singapore, the Marianas Islands, Australia, and conducted a RIMPAC deployment to Hawaii in company with the Japanese Navy.

[1] In March 2014, Eric and Charlotte Kauffman, and their daughters, three-year-old Cora and one-year-old Lyra, set sail from San Diego, California, to circumnavigate the globe in their 36-foot sailboat, Rebel Heart.

Vandegrift reached the area on 5 April, and at about 0800 the following morning, she lowered a team in a rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB), and the sailors brought the family and the pararescuemen on board the frigate.

The rescuers provided the Kauffmans with food, water, and medical assistance, but instructed the castaways that because of the limited room on board the RHIB and ship, they could only retrieve three bags of their personal belongings in a single trip before Vandegrift sank Rebel Heart as a hazard to navigation.

Some of the Kauffmans' neighbors in the San Diego area therefore raised funds and donated goods to help the family recover from their ordeal when they returned ashore.