Marine Lynx, approved 18 April 1944, was laid down by Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Vancouver, Washington, 9 December 1944, as MC Hull no.

She touched at ports in the Fiji Islands and in Australia; returned to the west coast in June; and in 1947, entered the Maritime Commission Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, California.

After the establishment of the uneasy truce 27 July 1953, she cruised primarily to return veterans of the U.N. police action in Korea to the United States.

Steaming via Yokosuka, Japan, she reached Haiphong, French Indochina, 13 September, and began duty in the US Navy's Operation "Passage‑to‑Freedom".

After embarking Vietnamese refugees who were fleeing the tyranny and oppression of the Communist dominated north, she departed Haiphong, 18 September, and carried her passengers to Saigon, where they could begin a new life of freedom in Southeast Asia.

During the next 2 months she completed six round trips between northern and southern Vietnam, while carrying refugees, French troops, and military supplies to Saigon, Tourane, and Nha Trang.