Canisteo cleared Norfolk 4 February 1946 for Melville, Rhode Island, where she loaded diesel oil for naval units taking part in the occupation of Germany.

Steaming through the Panama Canal to the Antarctic, Canisteo reached Scott and Peter Islands and provided critical logistic support for this historic exploratory and scientific project, carrying on the Navy's traditional role in expanding man's frontiers.

Between 4 June 1947 and 23 October 1948, Canisteo served four tours of duty supporting the United States Sixth Fleet by carrying oil from Bahrain to the Mediterranean.

T. E. Shanahan, Commanding Officer 1978–1980, in a YouTube video "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHlowLNuBjI" Published on 31 May 2012, wherein he says defense spending cuts were to blame for the ship not deploying on time in 1979, but there was more to the story than he is telling.

In the late summer early fall of 1978 the Canisteo was on deployment in the Caribbean and morale on the ship was so poor that 3 men jumped overboard at sea within 2 days.

Canisteo was sold for scrapping to Able UK, Hartlepool, Teesside, England, and removed from the Reserve Fleet under tow, arriving in the United Kingdom on 13 November 2003.

Local protests and legal challenges, alleging unacceptable amounts of toxic substances contained on and in the vessels, delayed scrapping until Able UK secured the appropriate waste management licensing in August 2008.