areas. On 19 January 1966 she rejoined the carrier task group which had moved to Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. Sproston was detached from 5–11 February to perform trawler surveillance and blocking. During this time, she observed a Russian Okean-class vessel, the Gidrofon, which was believed to be gathering electronic and tactical information. She rejoined the carrier group which returned to Subic Bay until 22 February. Back at Yankee Station, Sproston was again detached for naval gunfire support duty. She arrived off the coast, in the II Corps area, on 1 March and remained there until the 20th, firing 40 support missions for the 1st Cavalry Division and South Vietnamese Marines. The most eventful came on 9 March when, during a three-hour battle, her guns helped to repulse a battalion-strength Viet Cong attack against Republic of Vietnam Marines near Tam Quan. On 21 March, she and the Task Group proceeded to Yokosuka whence it departed on 5 April for another tour at Dixie Station. Sproston worked with Ranger at both Dixie Station and Yankee Station during the patrol.Sproston was detached from the Task Group on 4 May and visited Hong Kong, Subic Bay, and Yokosuka before she returned to Pearl Harbor for upkeep and the installation of a recovery crane as she had been selected to participate in an Apollo spacecraft recovery. On 25 August, she was on station off Kwajalein when the spacecraft passed overhead and landed north, where it was recovered by Hornet (CVS-12). Sproston returned to Pearl Harbor on 2 September and remained there undergoing repair services and conducting type training for the remainder of the year. In January and February 1967, Sproston conducted local operations to prepare for her 1967 deployment to the Far East. She sailed for Yokosuka on 6 March and, one month later, was back at Yankee Station. She participated in Operation Sea Lion and provided gunfire support until 14 May. She then joined Hancock (CVA-19) as escort and plane guard for two and one-half months. During this period of deployment, she performed trawler surveillance duty at Yankee Station several times when the Russian ships AGI Deflektor, Barograf, and Gidrofon entered the area.Sproston and Carpenter departed Vietnam on 4 August for Sydney, Australia, where they participated in a joint ASW exercise with units of the British and New Zealand navies off the coast of New Zealand. Having steamed almost since leaving