Upon completion of a short overhaul, "Keokuk" was converted to a net layer and, reclassified AKN-4, departed Norfolk, Virginia, on 23 November for the Pacific. She arrived at Tarawa on 3 February 1944 after a month's stay at Pearl Harbor, and immediately commenced net laying operations in the Marshall Islands. She continued this service until 12 April when she cleared Eniwetok to load new net at San Francisco, California. "Keokuk" returned to Kwajalein on 9 June, and departed two days later to engage in the amphibious assault on Saipan. She arrived in Saipan waters on 19 June and began laying antisubmarine net off Tanapag Harbor.