Anacapa was converted as project "Love William" under which she would appear to be a merchant vessel while actually carrying concealed weapons to attack enemy submarines.

Albert M. Wright of San Diego, recalled several occasions when subchasers, not in on the secret, came alongside to warn that she was in dangerous waters and ordered her to follow them to port.

'"[3] Late in 1943 she was relieved of Q-ship duty and served out the rest of the war as an armed transport, based first at Pearl Harbor and later at Anchorage.

The ship was originally built with a relatively shallow draft and flat bottom to allow her to navigate far upstream in the rivers of Oregon and Washington in order to load lumber and logs.

This made for a rough ride in the open ocean, but it also proved quite valuable in the island-hopping campaign in the South Pacific as Anacapa's shallow draft allowed her to deliver cargo to islands without improved ports.