She returned to Norfolk for the last weeks of 1962. After holiday stand down, the warship resumed local operations during the second week of January 1963. In mid-February, Basilone returned to the West Indies where she carried out a month of training near Puerto Rico. She reentered Norfolk on 21 March and, for the next ten weeks, got underway infrequently and only operated locally. In June 1963 Basilone was assigned North Atlantic duties to provide a homing beacon off the coast of Ireland for President Kennedy's pending flight to Europe. While on station for the flight, Basilone sustained a serious crack in her hull near the keel during a severe North Atlantic storm. (Waves were estimated to be at approximately in size) The crack was leaking over a minute and was getting worse. Welding repairs attempts were unsuccessful and an emergency repair attempt at the shipyard in Londonderry, Ireland away was denied. Basilone was ordered to stay on station until Air Force One radioed receipt of Basilones homing beacon. Basilone was then to be immediately released approximately 25 June for return to Norfolk, Virginia. D & S Piers for a pierside repair attempt. When the pierside repair attempt was deemed unsuccessful, Basilone was dispatched to Yorktown, Virginia, to unload ammunition and then sent on to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for drydock repairs on the hull.
