"Bataan" got underway for Yokosuka on 27 January 1952, arriving in Tokyo Bay on 11 February after weathering a severe winter storm. There she embarked Scouting Squadron 25 (VS-25) and steamed south to Buckner Bay, Okinawa, for ASW exercises. Between 24 February and 12 April, "Bataan" conducted three "hunter-killer" antisubmarine warfare exercises in the waters around Okinawa. Intended to prepare Allied forces to fight the Soviet submarine fleet in the event of Soviet intervention in Korea, these exercises pitted "Bataan"s aircraft, including helicopters, against "enemy" submarines , , and .