During the late fall of 1973, Captain Eugene Geronime relieved Captain Robert Crispin. In November of that year "Raleigh" deployed again to the Mediterranean, this time to link up with the Marine Amphibious Group sortied at Souda Bay, Crete. The combined Groups saw the largest Marine Force ever assembled in the Mediterranean up to that time. This was in response to the 1973 Arab-Israeli War in October. Following the cease fire, the "Raleigh" maintained station in the Eastern Mediterranean to prevent Soviet expansion in that area. "Raleigh" returned to Little Creek, Virginia, in June 1974 for one of the biggest homecomings the ship ever received.