 In 1961 "MacKenzie" sailed from Subic Bay, P.I., on 23 March to rendezvous with carriers and in the South China Sea to act during the Laos crisis as a powerful on-the-spot force, if needed.Fortunately, the crisis passed; and after further operations "George K. MacKenzie" put in at her new home port of New York on 11 December 1962.She entered Brooklyn Navy Yard for modernization, returning to sea in October 1963.