Continuing to alternate 7th Fleet and 1st Fleet duty tours into 1970, each of "Perkins"s WestPac deployments returned her to the South China Sea where, off the coast of Vietnam, she served as plane guard for carriers on "Yankee Station" in the Tonkin Gulf, participated in "Sea Dragon" and "Market Time" operations, patrolled on search and rescue duties and carried out naval gunfire support missions during the conflict.