Following shakedown out of Galveston, ATA-199 paused briefly at New Orleans on 18 November, then put to sea the same day to rendezvous with a convoy bound for the Panama Canal with sections of an advance base dock ABSD-5 in tow.

She operated in Leyte Gulf until 23 March when she departed Pedro Bay towing fleet ocean tug Serrano (ATF-112).

In the months that followed she operated in the Philippines, Marianas, Carolines, Solomons, and Admiralties towing vessels that varied from lighters to wrecking derricks.

Operating from that base, she conducted tows between various gulf ports until 24 June 1947 when she arrived at Beaumont, Texas, for inactivation overhaul.

The Krystal K was rebuilt as an articulated pusher tug and received a Hydraconn connection system and an elevated pilot house.