Following shakedown, Vent departed Long Beach, California, with YC-1048 in tow, on 16 June 1944. She arrived in Hawaiian waters 11 days later and delivered her tow. She participated in salvage operations on five LST's which had been set afire by an accidental explosion and had sunk in West Loch, Pearl Harbor on 21 May. On 23 July. she sailed for the South Pacific Ocean and arrived at Funafuti. Ellice Islands on 7 August. From there, she pushed on for Milne Bay and Manus.
