She served in the Battle of the Atlantic and provided escort service against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

She was laid down on 2 January 1943 by the Dravo Corp., Wilmington, Delaware; launched on 8 July 1943; sponsored by Miss Louisa Rodgers Alger; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 12 November 1943.

On 17 July, Alger joined the screen of the escort carrier Solomons and sailed for anti-submarine warfare exercises off the coast of Brazil.

Alger rendezvoused at sea on the last day of the month with Task Group 42.3 and escorted a convoy to Rio de Janeiro.

Her name was struck from the Navy Directory on 20 July 1953, and title to the ship was transferred outright to the government of Brazil as Babitonga (D-16).