[1] Following shakedown in the Chesapeake Bay, the oiler sailed for Aruba on 10 September to take on fuel oil and aviation gasoline and then continued on, via the Panama Canal, to the South Pacific.

Ashtabula next sailed for the United States and entered the Long Beach Navy Yard on 1 December for an availability period.

[1] The oiler sailed for Pearl Harbor on New Year's Day, 1944, and remained there until 16 January when she sortied with Task Group (TG) 58.1 for operations supporting the occupation of the Marshall Islands.

Ashtabula anchored at Majuro lagoon on 4 February and operated from that atoll in support of the fast carrier task forces through mid June.

During the Battle of the Philippine Sea and its aftermath, she fueled ships of Task Force 58 (TF 58) from 20 through 27 June and then retired, via Eniwetok, to the California coast for yard work which began upon her arrival at Terminal Island on 15 July.

After a two-day respite, the vessel headed for the South Pacific and arrived at Purvis Bay on the 24th where she spent the remainder of the month in fueling duties.

Following stops at Kossol Roads, Humboldt Bay, and Pearl Harbor, she reached San Pedro, Los Angeles, on 15 December and was drydocked at Terminal Island for repair of her torpedo damage.

On 10 March, Ashtabula was reassigned to ServRon 6; and, three days later, she got underway for fueling operations at sea for the warships of the Fast Carrier Task Force, TF 58.

In mid-August, Japan capitulated; and, on the last day of the month, the oiler headed for Okinawa, but soon moved on to Jinsen, Korea, where she arrived on 11 September.

In June and July, she again visited a Mideastern port, Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia, to replenish her oil bunkers.

[1] The ship got back in action in the Far East in November, refueling bombardment forces around the 38th parallel and, later, assisted in the evacuation of Hungnam, Korea.

[1] On 30 November 1952, while in Sasebo for an availability, Ashtabula was damaged by twin explosions caused by acetylene torches which ignited gasoline fumes in her forward hold.

[1] For the next 10 years, the oiler continued alternating deployments to WestPac with periods of upkeep, overhaul, and training at her home port, Long Beach.

[1] In 1968, Ashtabula underwent a major reconfiguration, or Jumboization at Todd Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, San Pedro, California.

[1] Following an availability period at Long Beach and training exercises off the southern California coast, Ashtabula once again sailed west on 4 October 1973.

On 11 May, she was ordered to Cambodia to support the rescue of SS Mayaqüez, an American merchant ship that had been captured by communist forces.

Ports visited included Subic Bay; Sasebo and Yokosuka, Japan; Hong Kong; and Keelung, Taiwan.

In March, she headed west to rendezvous with and refuel a task group built around the aircraft carrier Coral Sea.

[1] Ashtabula sailed to Alameda, California, on 10 March to hold a series of qualification trials, returned to Pearl Harbor on 14 April, and began refresher training.

She got underway on 30 June for the Far East and called at Song Kla and Pattaya, Thailand; Subic Bay; Sasebo; and Fremantle, Australia.

At the end of August, she embarked upon a six-week cruise to the west coast to conduct underway replenishment qualification trials and then participate in Exercise "Kernel Potlatch II," a joint United States-Canadian operation to test and evaluate plans for the common defense of North America.

On 12 December, she completed repairs and, the following day, put to sea to begin underway refueling service to the ships of the 7th Fleet.

She was subsequently towed to Suisun Bay, California, where she joined the Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet.

Ashtabula remained berthed at Mare Island Naval Shipyard until she was selected as a target ship in a SINKEX exercise on 14 October 2000.