On 30 May, the cruiser departed for Keelung, Taiwan, her first liberty port in 1978. "Worden" returned to Yokosuka on 9 June for a brief four-day visit before joining carrier task group activities in the northern Philippine Sea. She returned to Yokosuka, Japan, on 28 June for an in-port period which ended on 19 July with a three-week transit to Subic Bay with the "Midway" task group. Having detached from task group operations and traveled to Buckner Bay, Okinawa, "Worden" commenced "Missilex 4–78" on the morning of 1 August. Due to three successive unsuccessful launch attempts by the Japanese antiaircraft training ship "Azuma", the exercise was canceled, and "Worden" headed back to Subic Bay, Philippines, and a week of upkeep.