After shakedown "Markab" transited the Panama Canal on 27 October to join Destroyer Force, Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Ships recently returned from the battle for the Solomon Islands made use of her facilities for three months prior to her departure on 6 February 1943 to service the North Pacific Force. In the year she remained in the Aleutians, she rendered noteworthy service in helping to prepare vessels for both the Attu and Kiska invasions. Steaming to San Francisco late in January, 1944 the ship prepared for an even more extensive Pacific tour.