Only one day after reaching Subic Bay, Waddell got underway on 2 November for the coast of Vietnam and her first deployment to "Yankee Station" W-5, in the Tonkin Gulf. On station with Task Unit (TU) 77.0.2 until the 14th, the ship returned to Subic Bay for brief local operations before sailing back to the combat zone to take her post on the northern search and rescue station (SAR) from 29 November to 29 December.
