After shakedown at Bermuda and overhaul at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sandusky departed for the Pacific Ocean on 18 August 1944, escorting a convoy from New York City to Finschhafen and Hollandia, New Guinea.

After completing the long convoy voyage on 2 October 1944, she proceeded to Morotai, conducting anti-submarine patrols there for the rest of the month.

After escorting a convoy to Lingayen Gulf at Luzon in the Philippines, she departed from Leyte on 8 March 1945 for Seattle, Washington.

On 15 July 1945, EK-7 departed Cold Bay in company with nine of her sister ships – EK-1 (ex-Charlottesville), EK-2 (ex-Long Beach), EK-3 (ex-Belfast), EK-4 (ex-Machias), EK-5 (ex-San Pedro), EK-6 (ex-Glendale), EK-8 (ex-Coronado), EK-9 (ex-Allentown), and EK-10 (ex-USS Ogden (PF-39)) – bound for Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the Soviet Union.

[6] In February 1946, the United States began negotiations for the return of ships loaned to the Soviet Union for use during World War II.