later; the dog, swimming in the water, was hauled on board Wrangell, whose crew adopted the animal and made him the ship's mascot. Ultimately arriving at Bizerte on 9 October, Wrangell operated with the 6th Fleet only briefly, touching at Cagliari, Sardinia; Taranto, Italy; Suda Bay, Crete; Phaleron Bay, Greece; and Naples, Italy, before returning via Gibraltar to New York and the naval ammunition depot at Earle. Wrangell conducted three more Mediterranean deployments into the late 1950s, supplying 6th Fleet warships with ammunition. There were notable highlights during those deployments: in the autumn of 1956, during the Suez Crisis, Wrangell supported the units of the 6th Fleet evacuating American nationals from the troubled area. In mid-July 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered marines to land in Lebanon to protect American lives and property. During the intervention, Wrangell participated in the 6th Fleet's operations, visiting Beirut four times in August and September, after which time the ship proceeded to Naples, arriving there on 15 September. In between Mediterranean deployments, Wrangell's area of operations ranged from Charleston, South Carolina, to Holy Loch, Scotland; and from the Virginia Capes to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. During her operations, she conducted underway rearming experiments with a number of ships, including the then-new aircraft carrier and the guided missile cruiser . 1960–1965 Wrangell continued alternating local operations off the eastern seaboard with Caribbean and Mediterranean deployments into the late 1960s. The ship's first replenishment of a nuclear-powered warship came on 17 August 1962, when she rearmed the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier . In the autumn of 1962, after the discovery by reconnaissance aircraft of Soviet missiles in Cuba, President John F. Kennedy instituted a naval blockade of Cuba to turn back Russian ships that attempted to deliver more missiles and their support equipment to Cuban ports. During the crisis, Wrangell spent 35 days in the Caribbean, arming and rearming various units of the blockade force. Ultimately, the Russians removed the missiles from Cuba and thus eased the tension. Wrangell conducted three more Mediterranean deployments in the first half of the 1960s and, between those deployments, conducted local operations on the eastern seaboard and into the Caribbean. After successive home-port changes over the years – from New York to Naples to Norfolk to Charleston – Wrangell was preparing for her 10th Mediterranean deployment when orders came directing her to sail for the Far East and her first service in