sailed for Norfolk. She then conducted one more trip to Newport (22 to 31 October 1947) before coming back to Norfolk on 1 November. She then underwent a restricted availability at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard from 1 December 1947 – 15 January 1948 for "special temporary alterations" in connection with her next operation. 1948 Albemarle sailed from Norfolk on 16 January 1948 for the Canal Zone, and upon completing the transit of the isthmian waterway reported for duty with Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, for temporary duty with Joint Task Force "Switchman". Steaming thence to Terminal Island for final fitting out for her next task at hand, and arriving there on 4 February, Albemarle sailed for Pearl Harbor on 1 March, in company with the radar picket destroyer , proceeding thence to the Marshall Islands, arriving at Eniwetok on 16 March, to take part in Operation Sandstone. Specially altered for the task, Albemarle served as the laboratory ship during "Sandstone" – a three-detonation nuclear atmospheric test series – shots "X-Ray" (15 April), "Yoke" (1 May) and "Zebra" (15 May). Departing Eniwetok on 21 May, Albemarle arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 27th, en route to Oakland, California, which she reached on 4 June. Sailing for Norfolk on 11 June, she transited the Panama Canal on 20–21 June, and reached her ultimate destination on the 26th. She remained there undergoing overhaul at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard until 23 August, when she sailed for Guantánamo Bay, reaching "Gitmo" on the 27th for a three-day stay. Over the two weeks following her departure from Cuban waters, Albemarle visited Key West, Boston, and Newport before returning to Norfolk on 14 September. 1949 Following an overhaul at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Albemarle stood out of Hampton Roads on 8 February, and over the ensuing weeks visited a succession of ports and operating areas: Key West; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Kingston, Jamaica; and Bermuda, interspersing these port visits with training out of Guantánamo Bay. Returning to the Norfolk Naval Base on 19 March, she remained there into the summer, ultimately sailing for Boston on 13 July for a port visit. Subsequently, visiting Newport and New York, Albemarle returned to Norfolk on 27 July, and worked in the local operating areas into September. Further operations late in the summer and early fall of 1949 took the ship to Newport, New York, and the Norfolk local operating areas. 1950–1956 Standing out