Launched on 7 December 1942, and delivered to the U.S. Navy, she was converted for naval service at Bethlehem Steel Co., Key Highway Plant, Baltimore, Maryland.

Late in January 1944, she put to sea to rendezvous with, and refuel, fleet units engaged in the Marshalls' campaign; and, by 5 February, she had begun fueling ships in Majuro Lagoon.

In March, Saugatuck moved into the Volcano Islands where she fueled ships supporting Marine units fighting on Iwo Jima.

Saugatuck arrived at Los Angeles on the 22nd; underwent repairs and alterations there at the Bethlehem Steel Co. docks; and headed west again in late June.

She then commenced refueling operations in support of the minesweeping effort in the East China Sea, the occupation of Japan, and the repatriation of Allied and Japanese prisoners of war.

She was struck from the Naval Register and transferred 9 October 1946 to the Maritime Commission for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benicia, California.

In 1955, she commenced a varied schedule under which she has carried petroleum products from the world's major oil ports to United States Naval bases and depots in both hemispheres.

From June 1965 to March 1966 the USNS Saugatuck, was operated under MSTS contract by Keystone Shipping Company of Philadelphia, PA. During this period she continued to carry petroleum products from the US West Coast to United States Naval bases and depots in the Pacific, including Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Midway, Wake and Kwajalein Islands, as well as, four (4) months of "floating storage" duty in Cham Ranh Bay and Da Nang, Vietnam from August through December 1965.

Then continued west bound to Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia, the Suez Canal, Greece, and Spain, before returning to the US East Coast ports of Delaware City and Providence, R.I.

Transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 5 November 1974, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, Virginia.