Arneb (AKA-56) was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1159) as Mischief by the Moore Dry Dock Company at Oakland, California, launched on 6 July 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Carol J. Palmer, the daughter of a plant engineer, acquired by the Navy on 16 November and towed to Portland, Oregon, where she was converted to an attack cargo ship by the Willamette Iron and Steel Works, and commissioned on 28 April 1944.

Outfitted and loaded with stores for her first cruise by 10 May 1944, the attack cargo ship steamed to San Diego for shakedown training which was made unexpectedly interesting by her rescue of the three-man crew of a Navy Grumman TBF Avenger that had had to "ditch".

The cargo ship arrived on 17 September and lowered all of her boats off the west side of the island to feign landings in that quarter in an effort to divert Japanese defensive forces.

While in Pearl Harbor on 28 August, Arneb received orders to load cargo and sail for the China coast to support the occupation forces.

Following shakedown training out of Guantánamo Bay in April and May, Arneb cruised in the North Atlantic from June to October to test the effectiveness of the cold weather equipment installed.

Nevertheless, the ship utilized her cold weather gear from March to December 1951 when she rendered logistic support to naval activities in England and North Africa, including an amphibious training operation in Greenland.

After her return to the east coast in February 1953, Arneb made six cruises to the West Indies, before beginning preparations for an extended operation at Antarctica.

As a preliminary trial before her cruise southward, Arneb participated in an operation in waters north of the Arctic Circle along the east coast of Baffin Island in August and September and then returned to Norfolk for final outfitting.

On 14 November 1955 Arneb got underway as flagship of "Operation Deep Freeze I" that would allow her to claim the distinction of crossing both the Arctic and Antarctic Circles in the course of one year.

She transited the Panama Canal on 20 November, stopped at New Zealand and Franklin Island before arriving at Kainan Bay and McMurdo Sound, where she stayed from 27 December 1955 to 30 January 1956.

She departed Norfolk in November; stopped at Wellington, New Zealand; entered the ice field on 16 December; and rendezvoused with the Coast Guard icebreaker USCGC Northwind (WAGB-282).

Upon completion of their work there, the two ships returned to Cape Hallett, where Arneb moored to the ice while Northwind proceeded into Moubray Bay to clear an unloading site.

No further mishaps occurred until 30 January when Arneb, the icebreaker USS Glacier (AGB-4), and cargo ship USNS Greenville Victory (T-AK-237) attempted to push through the icepack off Knox Coast.

A large chunk of ice broke off and brushed Arneb's port side, ripping a gash 12 feet long and one-half-inch wide and once again flooding the holds as well as buckling plates, popping rivets, and opening seams.

The USS Edisto (a "Wind-class" ice breaker) appeared late on the 26th and together with a shift in the winds, the "channel" opened up and all three ships proceeded to McMurdo, each a bit worse for wear.

Arneb began a routine of operations in Atlantic and Caribbean waters and practiced with Navy and Marine Corps personnel in actual landings at Onslow Beach, N.C., and Vieques Island, Puerto Rico.

During one such exercise, "LANTFLEX 66," 94 Atlantic Fleet ships took part in a three-week opposed approach, landing, and departure from Vieques under the surveillance of a Soviet intelligence-gathering trawler.

Arneb received four battle stars for her World War II service, and a Meritorious Unit Commendation for the recovery mission for Apollo 7.