"Annapolis" was decommissioned 20 December 1969 at Naval Station Norfolk, transferred to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and immediately towed to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard where she was placed in mothballs. The ship was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 15 October 1976 and sold for scrap on 1 November 1979. She never saw her home port of Long Beach, CA. "Annapolis" was not the first ship to have satellite transmission capability. That title goes to the with its 30-foot parabolic antenna in a 53-foot radome, which was not suitable for combat fleet operations. "Annapolis" was the first Navy fleet operational ship with that capability. In many ways, the new satellite capability on the "Annapolis" paved the way for future communications in the Navy and later for worldwide communications. During this infancy, satellites were low orbiting meaning that satellites were available only for short durations; often measured in 5-15 minute intervals. Geostationary satellites were not available for military use until some years later. Although the satellite tracking capability was a success, it did have its problems in these early periods. The use of unproven gyroscopes to keep the satellite dish stable due to the ship's rolling and pitching in stormy and salty conditions while tracking the low orbiting satellites was a challenge for the electronics crew, often spending many hours tweaking and adjusting the equipment. During UNREP (Underway replenishment) operations with another ship, the satellite equipment was secured due to safety concerns because of its high power emissions. Often overlooked, "Annapolis" relayed Sitreps (situation reports) of the North Vietnamese military operations directly to the commanders in Washington DC via satellite with some political interest situations reported to the White House. The Tet Offensive and Battle of Khe Sanh are just two of those battles that Sitreps were relayed by "Annapolis". With this new capability the Sitreps and progreps (progress reports) were reported often in minutes whereas regular communications of the times were often measured in hours at best. "Annapolis" can be considered a prototype ship or even an experiment for future naval communications, and proving her capability during the Vietnam War. Although "Annapolis" was not the first ship to have an antenna array on the flight deck, with that distinction going to , it does have the distinction for having the first satellite communications afloat capability, a very large communications center to support global communications, and the ability to stay on station for long periods. As such, it can be assumed that the lessons learned from "Annapolis" and her sister ship set the stage for the US Navy's new generation of command ships, the and .