During the latter portion of this deployment, "Abnaki" made no voyages to Vietnam. Instead, she operated exclusively out of Subic Bay, breaking that routine but once during the second half of January 1973 for missions to Kaohsiung and Tsoying in Taiwan. On 20 February, she departed Subic Bay to return home. Along the way, the tug made stops at Guam and Kwajalein before reentering Pearl Harbor on 13 March. Renewed operations out of Pearl Harbor lasted until 25 June 1973 when she got underway for a new home port – San Diego, California. The ship stood into her new base on 13 July and spent the remainder of the year either in port at San Diego or making tows to various points along the California coast. That employment continued into the New Year 1974. On 19 February, the ship entered the Fellows & Stuart Shipyard for a seven-month overhaul.