For most of the first five months of 1983, the frigate carried out no operational activity. Post-deployment standdown lasted well into January while an extended maintenance period occupied February and the better part of March. On 23 and 24 March, she made an overnight passage from Charleston to Norfolk, where she entered the drydock on the 24th. Work on her hull and sonar dome took up the next five weeks after which "Aylwin" returned to Charleston to prepare for a deployment to northern European waters.