After shakedown training, "General H. F. Hodges" sailed from San Francisco 10 May 1945 with over 3,000 troops and a contingent of Army nurses. In the ensuing two months, she steamed to Hollandia, Manila, Leyte, and Biak in support of the accelerating push toward Japan before returning to San Francisco on Independence Day 1945. The transport departed 8 July for New York via the Panama Canal; and, after stopping there briefly, departed 5 August for Naples on a troop rotation voyage. While at sea she received word of the Japanese capitulation.