vessel. On 2 September 1969, Wood County proceeded to the Home Brothers Shipyard at Newport News to have the six Cooper Bessemer engines replaced by a like number of Fairbanks-Morse diesels. The work progressed well into the spring of 1970. On 15 June the tank landing ship successfully completed her sea trials and, on the 19th, officially competed her yard period at Newport News. On the 20th, she set out on her two-week shakedown cruise. On Sunday, 21 June, Wood County sighted a red flare and altered course to investigate. She found that the 36-foot sailboat Hiro had been adrift for three days due to a rudder casualty, and she rescued the two occupants. Six days later, Wood County performed her second rescue of the week when she hauled on board two men from a small fishing boat which had been the object of a massive search by United States Coast Guard ships and planes for the past three days. From August to October, 1970, Wood County underwent shakedown and amphibious refresher training under the auspices of the Atlantic Fleet Amphibious Operational Training Unit. From 16 to 26 October, the tank landing ship provided transportation and berthing for representatives of many amphibious type commands at the Philadelphia Naval Base for participation in a firefighting school conducted there at the time. Wood County underwent type training, acting as control ship for drone aircraft used in various gunnery exercises by the ships in PhibRon 6. Returning to port, Wood County soon commenced a tender availability in preparation for the ship's first Mediterranean deployment in four years. Mediterranean, 1971 16 January 1971 the ship's cargo—two PCF "Swift boats" and a pair of Ammi pontoons—were secured and ready for sea. This was the first instance of Ammi pontoons being side-loaded on a tank landing ship for a transoceanic voyage. Wood County stood out of Little Creek on 19 January, bound for Malta and Crete. The tank landing ship made port at Valletta, Malta on 6 February and off-loaded the two Swift patrol craft. Those boats were to be used by the Maltese government to combat smuggling off the island's coasts. Departing the same day, Wood County pressed on for Crete and arrived two days later. There, she turned the two 54-ton Ammi pontoons over to the Royal Hellenic Navy for use in extending a pier in the harbor at Souda Bay. Departing Souda Bay