LSM(R)-508 operated out of Little Creek, off the Virginia Capes, and in the Caribbean, conducting training there out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, into 1946.

After shifting to Baltimore, MD, in July, for repairs, LSM(R)-508 sailed for Houston in October, transited the Panama Canal on 30 November, and arrived at San Diego, CA, soon thereafter, to prepare for inactivation.

Apparently slated for disposal in late 1959, Gunnison River was reinstated on the Navy list early in 1960 and selected for conversion to a drone aircraft catapult control ship.

Dubbed "the world's smallest aircraft carrier," Targeteer provided these support services for the United States Pacific Fleet into 1968.

The former drone aircraft catapult control craft was subsequently sold to the American Ship Dismantling Co., of Portland, OR, on 10 December 1969 and scrapped soon thereafter.