Mount Vernon was awarded to General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division in Quincy, Massachusetts on 25 February 1966. After commissioning in Boston Naval Shipyard in 1972, she was homeported in San Diego, California. In April 1975, Mount Vernon participated in Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon, Vietnam. Beginning 22 July 1985, Mount Vernon was briefly homeported in Long Beach, California before returning to San Diego. In her 31 years of service, Mount Vernon completed 15 deployments in the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Far East.