She spent the final part of the war as an Army hospital ship, once more under the name USAT (or USAHS) Ernest Hinds.

Taken over by the Navy for World War I use, she was commissioned in mid-November 1918 as USS Santa Teresa (ID 3804), a week after the Armistice ended the fighting.

Between December 1918 and September 1919 Santa Teresa made seven round-trip voyages between the United States and France, primarily bringing home war veterans.

Renamed Ernest Hinds, she was converted to a troopship at Boston, and took part in maneuvers off Cape Cod before being transferred to the Navy in July 1941.

During May 1942 - September 1943 Ernest Hinds operated as a transport, making a trip to Alaska in mid-1942 and thereafter carrying personnel and cargo between the U.S., Hawaii, and the South Pacific and within the latter region.