After her brief spell in the limelight, "Centaur" spent a few weeks in home waters, carrying out flying operations, and paid visits to Copenhagen, Denmark and Brest, France, before departing for the Mediterranean via Lisbon and Gibraltar. Whilst at Gibraltar further changes to her air-group were made as the Skyraiders of 849D Squadron were disembarked, whilst the Gannets of 810 Squadron rejoined the ship. Following a transit through the Suez Canal in late June, she operated in the Indian Ocean with visits to Kuwait, Aden and Trincomalee, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where she was visited by the prime minister, Solomon Bandaranaike, shortly before his assassination in September 1959. After a month-long maintenance period in Singapore, she operated in Pacific waters for the next three and a half months, including joint exercises with off the Philippines and a visit to Australia, before returning to Singapore. Further operations in the Indian Ocean, including a visit to East Africa, followed before she left to return home, being replaced as the east of Suez carrier by "Albion". She arrived back at Devonport on 26 April, having steamed and carried out 7,805 catapult launches, for the loss of one Sea Hawk, two Sea Venoms and a Dragonfly helicopter of the ship's flight.