[3] After fitting out and shakedown training, Albuquerque stood out from Treasure Island, California, on 24 March 1944, bound for Seattle, Washington.

She arrived at Seattle, on 26 March 1944, and remained there until getting underway on 5 April 1944, as an escort for a convoy bound for the Territory of Alaska.

After the Liberty ship John Straub, operating as a cargo ship for the United States Army, either struck a mine or was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-180 and broke in two in the Pacific Ocean at 54°22′N 163°24′W / 54.367°N 163.400°W / 54.367; -163.400 (SS John Straub), approximately 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) southeast of Sanak Island in the Fox Islands subgroup of the Aleutian Islands on 19 April 1944 and her bow section sank, Albuquerque scuttled her stern section.

[4][5] For the rest of 1944 and the first half of 1945, Albuquerque shepherded convoys between various Alaskan ports and conducted patrols around the Aleutian Islands and in the Bering Sea.

[3] Between 5 June and 14 July 1945, Albuquerque made a round-trip voyage from Dutch Harbor to Seattle and back.

[6] In February 1946, the United States began negotiations for the return of ships loaned to the Soviet Union for use during World War II.

[7] Reverting to her former name, Albuquerque lay idle in the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Yokosuka until the outbreak of the Korean War, on 25 June 1950, created a demand for more US Navy escort ships.

After a visit to Subic Bay, she returned to Sasebo, on 3 December 1952, and resumed duty along the eastern coast of Korea.