Suboficial Castillo was used as support ship for both the Argentine Submarine Force and during the summer campaigns in Antarctica in the Patrulla Antártica Naval Combinada (English: Joint Antarctic Naval Patrol) with the Chilean Navy to guarantee safety to all touristic and scientific ships that are in transit within the Antarctic Peninsula.

[2] From 1946 to 1952 Takelma operated out of numerous locations including San Diego, Pearl Harbor, Adak, and Subic Bay at various times.

She cruised over much of the Pacific Ocean with port calls at locations such as Midway, Balboa, Coco Solo, Wake, Kwajalein, Japan, and Korea.

One of Takelma's more noteworthy missions was supporting Operation Crossroads, the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll.

The tug operated in Korean waters from 20 August to 17 September 1952, serving at Sokcho, Pusan, and Wonsan, before returning to Sasebo.

The vessel was transferred to Argentina on 30 September 1993, under the Security Assistance Program and renamed ARA Suboficial Castillo (A-6).

[citation needed] On 25 May 1995 Suboficial Castillo captured the trawler LW9579 for illegal fishing in the Argentine Sea.

[4] In January 1998, she transported a French team to the Isla de los Estados which installed a replica of Jules Verne's The Lighthouse at the End of the World.