[3][4] The ship was launched as Iran Victory[a] on 25 March 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Peter Hegge, and delivered on 23 April 1944 to the Maritime Commission, which turned her over to a commercial shipowner, the Pacific-Atlantic Steamship Company, for operation manned by a civilian crew.

[10] On SS Iran Victory's third voyage she loaded at Port Chicago and traveled to Finchaven, Manus Island, Babelthuap, Leyte, Ulithi Atoll, Guam and home to San Pedro, Los Angeles.

On 11 March 1945 while she was at the Ulithi Atoll the aircraft carrier USS Randolph was hit by a Kamikaze plane while Iran Victory was berthed next to her.

[13] Belmont completed outfitting at Puget Sound during November 1964, and on 2 December 1964 departed Bremerton, Washington, bound for her permanent assignment with the U.S. Atlantic Fleet at her new homeport, Norfolk, Virginia.

For the remainder of the year, she conducted operations along the western coast of South America, including visits to Valparaíso, Chile, and Callao, Peru.

After seven weeks of upkeep in her homeport, Belmont stood out to sea on 7 September 1966, bound for her third assignment in the Pacific coastal waters of South America.

Belmont reentered her homeport on 14 November 1966, and spent the remainder of the year in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard installing communication gear.

On 1 February 1967, Belmont loosed her mooring lines to begin an extended cruise to the Southern Hemisphere, one that included a circumnavigation of the South American continent.

The ship rounded the Cape of Good Hope on 5 October 1967, and spent the following six weeks engaged in special operations along the eastern coast of Africa.

On 22 November 1967, she redoubled the cape and, after an overnight stop at Monrovia, Liberia on 2 and 3 December 1967, pointed her bow west for the homeward voyage.

She emerged revitalized on 14 May 1968 and put to sea to conduct refresher training in the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, operating area.

The ship completed post-overhaul training on 14 June 1968 and, after a visit to San Juan, Puerto Rico, embarked upon her second deployment to the coasts of Africa.

The ship stopped over at Recife, Brazil, from 13 to 16 November 1968, and then headed for the northeastern coast of South America and a series of operations in that vicinity.

She passed through the Strait of Gibraltar on 28 June 1969 and joined the 6th Fleet, two years after the Israeli attack on her sister ship, USS Liberty.

However, this technical research (spy) ship spent the majority of her time in the eastern portion of the sea near Kythira, Greece, and the island of Crete.