On 27 May 1972, she returned to West Coast operation until 16 November, when she embarked upon her seventh WestPac deployment. This had been delayed four months when one of the engines was disabled after Navy fireman E-3 Patrick Chenoweth dropped a heavy paint scraper into a main reduction gear, one of around two dozen acts of sabotage "Ranger" suffered between 7 June 1972 and 16 October 1972. Chenoweth was charged with "sabotage in time of war", and faced 30 years imprisonment, but was acquitted by a general court-martial.