After local operations and repairs, "Wrangell" sailed for her second Mediterranean deployment in the autumn. At 1014 on 4 October 1953 — while en route from Reykjavík, Iceland, to Bizerte, Tunisia, in company with the oiler — the ammunition ship sighted a fishing vessel flying international distress signals. "Wrangell" maneuvered near the drifting vessel and lowered a boat with a boarding party, Ens. P. R. Frosell in charge. "Wrangell's" men found the fishing boat, "Jules Verne" (registered at Douarnenez, France), to have wreckage strewn about topside and two feet of water in her engine compartment. The investigation also revealed the only living occupant of the craft to be a dog; the boarding party also found the corpse of a man estimated to have been dead for five days. Leaving food and water for the dog, the boarding party soon returned to the ship, and "Wrangell" took "Jules Verne" under tow. At 1403 the next day, 5 October, "Jules Verne" began to founder, however, and sank eight minutes later; the dog, swimming in the water, was hauled on board "Wrangell", whose crew adopted the animal and made him the ship's mascot.