At the beginning of 1939, Fleet Problem XX concentrated the fleet in the West Indies, and at its conclusion "Astoria", Richmond Kelly Turner commanding, made a hasty departure from Culebra Island on 3 March 1939 and headed for Chesapeake Bay. After taking on a capacity load of stores and fuel at Norfolk, Virginia, the heavy cruiser proceeded north to Annapolis, Maryland, where she embarked the remains of the former Japanese Ambassador to the United States, the late Hiroshi Saito, for the voyage to Japan, a gesture that expressed America's gratitude to the Japanese for returning the body of the late United States Ambassador to Japan, Edgar Bancroft, in the cruiser in 1926. "Astoria" sailed from Annapolis on 18 March 1939, accompanied by Naokichi Kitazawa, Second Secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Washington.