She was launched on 30 July 1943, by the Walter Butler Shipbuilding Company in Superior, Wisconsin, under a Maritime Commission contract, sponsored by Mrs. J. E. Gleason, wife of the mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia.

On 15 July 1945, EK-1 departed Cold Bay in company with nine of her sister ships – EK-2 (ex-Long Beach), EK-3 (ex-Belfast), EK-4 (ex-Machias), EK-5 (ex-San Pedro), EK-6 (ex-Glendale), EK-7 (ex-Sandusky), EK-8 (ex-Coronado), EK-9 (ex-Allentown), and EK-10 (ex-USS Ogden (PF-39)) – bound for Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the Soviet Union.

[3] In February 1946, the United States began negotiations for the return of ships loaned to the Soviet Union for use during World War II.

[4] Reverting to her former name, Charlottesville was laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Yokosuka, and remained idle until the United States loaned her to Japan on 14 January 1953 for service in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, which renamed her JDS Matsu (PF-6) (まつ (PF-6), "pine tree").

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