Following a liberty call at Piraeus, Greece, between the 18th and the 21st, "Aylwin" headed for the strategic Straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. Passing through the Straits, she conducted training evolutions with destroyer in the Black Sea before calling at Istanbul, Turkey, on 26 November. The warship passed through the Straits again on the 28th and conducted operations south of Crete until 7 December when frigate relieved her. "Aylwin" then laid in a course for Rota, Spain, on the first leg of the voyage back to the United States. The stop at Rota took up two days, and, on 12 December, she embarked upon the Atlantic passage in company with 15 other Navy ships. "Aylwin" reached Charleston on 22 December.