Entering the Norfolk Navy Yard on 28 July for repairs and alterations to fit her out for duty in the Pacific, "Albemarle" was in the midst of this availability when the Pacific War ended in mid-August 1945. The Japanese capitulation suspended the work; and, soon thereafter, the orders to the Pacific to tend seaplanes were cancelled. Shortly thereafter, however, "Albemarle" underwent alterations of a different kind, to fit her out for different duty. With repairs carried out to the ventilation and berthing arrangements, the seaplane tender departed Norfolk on 25 September with 2,000 Navy replacements embarked, bound for the Canal Zone. She soon reported for duty as a transport under the Naval Transport Service. "Albemarle" cleared Coco Solo, for Pearl Harbor, but while transiting the Panama Canal suffered damage to her port screw. Reduced to proceeding with a single propeller, the seaplane tender put into San Francisco for repairs. Assigned to the "Magic Carpet" fleet – the ships given the job of returning American veterans home for rotation or discharge – upon completion of her repairs, "Albemarle" sailed westward, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 1 November before pushing on for New Caledonia, arriving there on 13 November, eventually arriving at NAS Alameda, on 28 November. Following a second round-trip voyage to Samar, in the Philippines, and back, "Albemarle" underwent a three-month overhaul at the Naval Shipyard, Terminal Island, California in preparation for her participation in Operation Crossroads.