Broadwater was laid down on 1 September 1944 at Wilmington, Los Angeles, by the California Shipbuilding Corporation under a Maritime Commission contract (MCV hull 55).

After fitting out and underway tests, Broadwater began shakedown training out of San Pedro, Los Angeles on 12 January.

At the conclusion of that assignment on 12 February, the attack transport arrived at the Craig Shipbuilding in Long Beach, California for a post-shakedown availability.

She arrived at Hollandia on the northern coast of New Guinea on 3 July and began taking on cargo and passengers.

After almost two weeks of voyage repairs at the California Shipbuilding Corporation, Broadwater began loading occupation troops on 24 August.

Later that month, the ship headed back to the United States, stopping at Guam on 27 October to embark the personnel of the U.S. Marine Twelfth 155mm Gun Battalion,[1] arriving in early November 1945.

Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 20 March 1946 and she was berthed with the Maritime Commission's National Defense Reserve Fleet at James River, Virginia.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.