During the Lebanese crisis in July she patrolled off the coast of Lebanon. For the next 2 months she continued peace-keeping patrols and ranged the Mediterranean from Turkey to France. She returned to Newport on 7 October. Hartley returned to Newport 5 May and engaged in further escort and ASW exercises until June , when she entered Monroe Shipyard , Chelsea, Massachusetts , for installation of a new high-speed sonar dome. Antisubmarine exercises out of Newport filled Hartley ' s schedule for the following 4 years, punctuated by occasional special operations.
In October , Hartley sailed to Norfolk to work with NASA research teams in improving shipboard recovery and space capsule egress procedures for American astronauts.
In response to the Russian attempt to establish offensive missile bases in Cuba the United States established a naval blockade off Cuba. From on, Hartley continued operating in the Atlantic and the Caribbean. In March , she conducted surveillance patrols off Cuba, and during the next 5 months she participated in extensive ASW exercises out of Key West and Newport.
Early in September she entered the Boston Naval Shipyard where she underwent overhaul and modification. Returning to Newport 8 April, she spent the remainder of the year participating in antisubmarine exercises which sent her from the Gulf of Maine to the Straits of Florida. After conducting surveillance patrols and sonar training out of Key West during the early part of , she was heavily damaged by the Norwegian freighter Blue Master 16 June.
As Hartley entered Chesapeake Bay in heavy weather, the merchantman hit the destroyer escort broadside, and her bow almost cut Hartley in half. She suffered no casualties but was extensively damaged in the engineering spaces. Rescue and salvage operations kept her from grounding; 19 hours after the collision, she reached Norfolk under tow. There she resumed antisubmarine operations. Hartley operated out of Newport along the New England coast and in the Caribbean until she sailed for Northern Europe late in May After cruising along the Scandinavian coast, she arrived at Copenhagen on 23 June.
