Since World War II ended some five months before the destroyer tender was placed in commission, she remained active only long enough to complete sea trials.

By that time, the increased need for ships to support the United States Army fighting in that Asian country brought Tidewater into her first real active service.

The following February, she joined other Navy ships in the Caribbean for her first of many annual "Springboard" exercises, after which she resumed duty at Norfolk tending the destroyers of DesFlot 4.

In July 1953, the destroyer tender moved south to Charleston to render her services to the ships of the Mine Force.

Tidewater returned to Norfolk on 1 December and resumed tending destroyers until February 1954 when she headed south to participate in her second "Springboard" exercise.

Over the next 13 years, she made 10 deployments to the Mediterranean, alternating that service with 2nd Fleet duty along the Atlantic coast of the United States.

While serving on her fourth deployment in the summer of 1960, the destroyer tender had the honor to play host to Queen Frederica of Greece.

During that brief conflict, Tidewater hurried to Souda Bay in Crete, where she served as an advanced base ship for 6th Fleet units standing watch in the eastern Mediterranean for the duration of hostilities.

The most significant of those occurred in June 1962 when, at the conclusion of her fifth Mediterranean tour, she entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for an extensive overhaul which included the installation of a helicopter pad and concomitant equipment to expand her logistics support capabilities.