The hospital ship was initially based in Charleston, South Carolina, and made multiple voyages to ports in England, the Mediterranean, and France.

After her homeport was changed to New York in December 1945, she made several more runs to Europe as a hospital ship, then converted to USAT Blanche F. Sigman in April 1946.

As a transport, the ship made numerous trips bringing home nurses and military personnel prior to entering the National Defense Reserve Fleet in 1948.

[1] The ship was instead named after First Lieutenant Blanche F. Sigman, a U.S. Army nurse killed in action on 7 February 1944 on the beachhead during Operation Shingle, the Allied landings at Anzio.

[1][9] After sailing for the Clyde and back to New York in July on its first mercy mission, Blanche F. Sigman moved to its new homeport of Charleston in August 1944.

Throughout 1945, the hospital ship made six transatlantic treks, visiting Marseille three times, Naples, Oran, Gibraltar, Milford Haven, Wales, Avonmouth, Cherbourg, and Horta.

[11] On 22 November 1948, Blanche F. Sigman entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) at the James River in Virginia.