Following fitting out at Boston, Mass., the attack cargo ship sailed for the Chesapeake Bay in mid-November. After shakedown training, the new attack cargo ship entered the Norfolk Navy Yard late on 4 November for repairs and alterations. This work was completed at the end of the month, and she sailed for Bayonne, N.J. on 30 November. There, the ship loaded cargo and embarked passenger, before sailing for the Pacific on 6 December. Escorted by , "Birgit" steamed to Panama, transiting the canal on the 12th and leaving the Canal Zone very early on the 13th. Proceeding singly to Hawaii, the ship reached Pearl Harbor on Christmas Day 1944, after having paused en route to render medical aid to SS "S. B. Hunt" on the 21st.