to Faslane and Holy Loch, in Scotland. While Whale visited Scotland, the Jordanian crisis, precipitated by civil war between the government of Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and aggravated by an incursion into northern Jordan by Syrian tanks, resulted a show of American strength in the eastern Mediterranean. Whale received orders to join the United States Sixth Fleet, in the Mediterranean, and did so near the end of September 1970. She remained in the Mediterranean through October and into November 1970. When the crisis abated, she headed for Charleston, arriving home on 18 November 1970, and remaining there for the remainder of the year. 1971–1972 Three fleet exercises and local operations out of Charleston, occupied Whale during the first half of 1971. Late in July, she deployed once more for special operations in the Atlantic Ocean, concluding that cruise late in September 1971, at Bremerhaven, West Germany. She returned to Charleston, on 12 October 1971, and resumed local operations upon arrival. That routine continued until 20 March 1972, when she departed once again for another special operations cruise in the Atlantic. At the end of that voyage, she made a brief call at Holy Loch, before returning to Charleston, on 9 June 1972. Almost two months after her return to the United States, Whale left Charleston, and headed north to Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut, her new home port. She entered the shipyard at the Electric Boat Division, in Groton, on 7 August 1972, for a 46-week overhaul and remained there undergoing repairs until 27 October 1973. 1973–1974 Whale completed post-overhaul shakedown and refresher training in November and December 1973, and began preparations for another deployment to the Mediterranean, in response to the Middle Eastern crisis brought about by the Arab-Israeli War, in October 1973. Late in January 1974, however, she received notification that her deployment had been delayed until May 1974. During the interim, she conducted normal operations out of Groton, including submarine anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercises, attack submarine training, and a major fleet exercise, Operation Safe Passage. On 3 May 1974, she departed Groton en route the Mediterranean Sea. On 12 May 1974, she changed operational control from the United States Second Fleet to the Sixth Fleet. While in the Mediterranean, Whale participated in two North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exercises, "International Week" and "Dale Falcon", with units of the Greek and Italian navies as