The ship had been evaluated for use as an Army hospital ship, considered better than several actually converted, but was never converted nor used as a hospital ship. The ship was allocated to Army transportation requirements and operated by Alooa Steamship Company under an Army Transportation Corps time charter agreement until placed under a general WSA agreement with Eastern Steamship on March 25. On August 1, 1942 the ship was delivered at Norfolk, Virginia for operation under bareboat charter by the War Department (Army) for operation as a United States Army Transport. The transport operated during the first half of 1942 out of New Orleans to Curaçao, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti, and Panama. After repair and conversion in Galveston, Texas during September and October 1942 "Evangeline" began operations out of New York in November to Oran, Casablanca, Algiers, Bizerte, and other North African ports supporting operations after the landings in North Africa on November 8, 1942. The transport made one trip to the United Kingdom after return to New York in August 1943 and in January 1944 departed for service in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) for operations.