After fitting out there, she embarked upon her shakedown cruise on 1 November. That cruise, which took her to Bermuda waters, lasted for the entire month. On 29 November, she headed back toward the United States and arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on 3 December. Following post-shakedown availability in the navy yard there, she put to sea on 11 December with , bound for New York City and a rendezvous with . The two destroyer minelayers departed New York with the aircraft carrier on 15 December and set a course for the Panama Canal. The three warships transited the canal on 20 December and, on 22 December, headed for the California coast. They arrived at San Diego on 29 December and remained there two days undergoing repairs. On New Year's Day 1945, they got underway again, headed for Oahu, and they arrived in Pearl Harbor six days later.
