Mississinewa, second of a class designed to provide fuel, food, stores, and mail services rapidly and for sustained periods to ships at sea, operated primarily along the U.S. East Coast, with one brief Mediterranean deployment, until 1 May 1956.

Remaining off the Lebanese coast until September, she refueled over 200 ships as the U.S. 6th Fleet landed the U.S. Marine Corps and then stood by at the request of President Chamoun of Lebanon, in "Operation Blue Bat".

Prior to the reassignment of Newport as her home port in September 1964, Mississinewa had returned to the United States only for regularly scheduled yard periods.

Mississinewa was transferred to the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) on 1 May 1999 for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, Virginia.

Mississinewa departed the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, under a disposal contract on 30 January 2007 to be scrapped at International Shipbreaking Ltd. (ESCO), Brownsville, Texas.