station two days later. Albert David spent the following six weeks on gunfire support station off the coast of Vietnam. At the end of January 1972, she headed back to Subic Bay to rest, rearm, and reprovision. The warship returned to the combat zone this time in the Gulf of Siam off the shores of South Vietnam's IV Corps on 6 February and resumed duty as a seaborne heavy artillery battery supporting ground forces ashore. Albert David left the Gulf of Siam on 24 February bound for the Gulf of Tonkin. She rendezvoused with the aircraft carrier on 29 February and served as the carrier's escort for two days of operations in the Gulf of Tonkin as well as during the voyage to Subic Bay. After 10 days of upkeep and repairs at Subic Bay, the ocean escort departed the Philippines for Hong Kong on 14 March. The port visit at Hong Kong lasted from 16 to 22 March. On the latter day, the warship laid in a course that took her via Okinawa to the Sea of Japan. She conducted antisubmarine warfare (ASW) exercises between 26 and 29 March and made a port call at Yokosuka, Japan, from 30 March to 5 April. After a false start for home on the 5th and a return to Japan to reload necessary equipment, Albert David headed back to Vietnamese waters that same day. Reporting for gunfire support duty off the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North Vietnam and South Vietnam on 10 April she performed a variety of other tasks as well. On 11 and 12 April Albert David participated in action while encountering enemy hostile fire. The crew received the Combat Action Ribbon. After four days of gunfire support missions, the warship joined the cruiser for 10 days of escort duty on picket station. From 28 April to 12 May, she again provided gunfire support. Albert David concluded that tour of duty in the combat zone with four days of service with the landing platform dock on the notification line established to warn merchant ships about mines in North Vietnamese harbors. On 17 May, she set out for Subic Bay in company with Constellation. The two warships visited Subic Bay from 19 to 22 May and then got underway for Singapore. After a four-day port call at Singapore, they returned to sea on 30 May on their way back to