After shakedown off Bermuda, Joseph E. Campbell departed Boston, Massachusetts, on 11 October; and, after escorting a convoy to Derry, Northern Ireland, returned to New York on 16 December.

Returning to New York from the last voyage on 8 October, conversion to a Charles Lawrence-class high speed transport began at Tompkinsville, Staten Island Naval Base,[1] and Joseph E. Campbell was reclassified APD-49 on 24 November 1944.

After exercises and training along the East Coast, the high speed transport departed Key West on 8 March 1945, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 8 April via the Panama Canal and San Diego.

After visiting Philadelphia and Norfolk, Virginia, she steamed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she embarked passengers and returned to Morehead City, North Carolina, on 31 March 1946.

Secured for preservation, she was towed to Green Cove Springs, Florida, where she was decommissioned on 15 November 1946, and joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Orange, Texas.