She was commissioned in May 1944 and was used by the Navy as an ammunition carrier, minelayer and general freighter until 1947 when she was decommissioned and transferred to the US Coast Guard on 11 August 1947.

On 1 November 1947 she was formally commissioned as a Coast Guard cutter and was christened White Bush and given the hull designation WAGL-542.

Her primary area of responsibility included Grays Harbor, Washington to Coos Bay, Oregon and she serviced aids to navigation on the Columbia River as well.

While starting out to sea across the Columbia River Bar on 4 December 1963 she encountered three consecutive swells approximately twenty feet high and nearly cresting.

The White Bush stopped her main engines but the "seas rocked and worked her heavily," causing some structural damage.

She also had new General Motors 4-71 diesel generators installed and her galley, messing, berthing and living spaces were renovated.