A watan Agusta da Satumba 1958, Tarawa ya kasance wani ɓangare na Rundunar Sojojin Ruwa na 88 (TF 88) a lokacin Operation Argus, wanda ya shiga cikin gudanar da gwaje-gwajen nukiliya a cikin yanayi mai zurfi.Tarawa ya yi aiki tare da Atlantic Fleet don sauran aikinsa. Ta kasance a gabas ta gabas, yana aiki daga Quonset Point da Norfolk kuma a wasu lokuta ya ziyarci yankin Caribbean don motsa jiki. A cikin babban, aikinsa ya kunshi shingen shinge a kan jirgin ruwa mai zurfi na Soviet da kuma jirgin ruwa na jirgin ruwa da kuma horo na matukan jirgi na jirgin ruwa. A ranar 1 ga Mayu, 1960, duk da haka, aikin Tarawa ya ƙare. An cire shi daga aiki kuma an sanya shi a ajiya a Philadelphia, inda ta kasance har zuwa ƙarshen shekarun 1960. A lokacin da ta yi ritaya, ta sami ƙarin canji a lokacin da ta zama AVT-12 a watan Mayu 1961.
1 ga Yuni 1967