She was launched on 23 December 1943 sponsored by Mrs. J. C. W. Becham, accepted from the War Shipping Administration under bareboat basis on 31 January 1944, and commissioned on 1 February 1944.

After shakedown off the Gulf Coast, this mobile station tanker loaded a cargo of fuel oil at Corpus Christi, Texas; steamed through the Panama Canal; and joined the Third Fleet at Espiritu Santo on 5 April.

On 14 September, Raccoon proceeded to Samoa to load fuel oil, returning to Espiritu Santo and Purvis Bay for station duty.

With the exception of a short trip to Bougainville, she remained at Purvis Bay until 6 February 1945, when she proceeded to the Russell Islands to fuel a task force of attack transports (APAs) and amphibious cargo ships (AKAs).

She arrived at Saipan on 14 June for harbor fueling duty which lasted through the end of the war and into April 1946.