The vessel entered service in 1943 and served in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II as part of a hunter-killer anti-submarine group.

Fiske was laid down 4 January 1943 by the Consolidated Steel Corporation of Orange, Texas; launched 14 March 1943; sponsored by Mrs. H. G. Chalkley; and commissioned 25 August 1943.

Fiske began her service as a convoy escort with a voyage from Norfolk to Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone to New York between 12 and 25 November 1943.

Completing her Casablanca runs with her return to New York on 21 May 1944 Fiske joined the hunter-killer group formed around USS Wake Island at Norfolk on 10 June.

On 2 August, during a special hunt for submarines known to be transmitting weather information from stations in the central Atlantic, Fiske and USS Douglas L. Howard were detached from the task group to investigate a visual contact both had made.