 For almost a month, she alternated between north and south SAR stations, taking time briefly in mid-December to participate in Operation "Beacon Tower", a three-day exercise to test the readiness of American warships in the Tonkin Gulf to meet and deal with air and surface attacks.On 16 December, "Wainwright" left the combat zone, bound for Singapore, where she remained from 19 to 26 December.From there, she set a course for the Philippines and arrived in Subic Bay on 29 December.