She was laid down for the Maritime Commission on 3 June 1943, by the Walter Butler Shipbuilding Company, Inc., in Superior, Wisconsin, and launched on 12 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Frank M. Doran.

Then, after anti-submarine warfare training in the New London Operating Area off New London, Connecticut, at the end of March 1945, she commenced antisubmarine patrols and convoy escort duties along the United States East Coast, operating between New York City and Norfolk, Virginia, through 3 July 1945.

Selected for transfer to the Soviet Navy in Project Hula, a secret program for the transfer of U.S. Navy ships to the Soviet Navy at Cold Bay in the Territory of Alaska in anticipation of the Soviet Union joining the war against Japan, Poughkeepsie stood out of New York Harbor on 9 July 1945, transited the Panama Canal, reported to Commander, United States Pacific Fleet, for duty, and put in at Seattle, Washington, for repairs and alterations in preparation for her transfer.

[6] The U.S. Navy struck her from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 December 1961 and transferred her to Japan outright on 28 August 1962.

Decommissioned on 1 April 1965, Momi was reclassified as an "auxiliary stock craft" (YAC), renamed YAC-13,[6] and used thereafter as a non-operable dockside training ship until early 1969, when she was transferred to South Korea to be cannibalized for spare parts for the Republic of Korea Navy's Tacoma-class frigates.