She was first named after Thomas A. McGinley, the president of the Duff-Norton Manufacturing Co., and inventor of an improved high-speed screw jack and lifting machinery.

She was acquired by the US Navy as Melucta from WSA under bareboat charter 31 March 1944; converted from a freighter by Gibbs Gas Engine Co., Jacksonville; and commissioned 22 July 1944.

[1][2][3][4] Following shakedown off Norfolk, Virginia, Melucta, was assigned to Naval Transportation Service, 17 August, for cargo carrying duties along the U.S. East Coast into the fall.

By 10 November, she was en route to the Marshalls, towing USS Cinnabar (IX-163) to Pearl Harbor, before continuing on to Ebon Atoll.

In mid October she got underway for the U.S. East Coast via the Panama Canal Zone, arriving Norfolk, Virginia, 28 November.