Following shakedown, the salvage ship departed the U.S. West Coast at San Francisco, California, on 18 April 1944 bound for Hawaii with a trio of sled targets in tow, and arrived at Pearl Harbor 12 days later.

Early in this tour, she assisted in fighting operations on burning LST's in West Loch, Pearl Harbor, in the wake of the destructive explosions which eventually sank five of these ships on 21 and 22 May.

Valve served as flagship for the commander of a Guam-bound convoy containing Bond (AM-152) and SC-1036 and three merchantmen from 10 to 14 November, before the ship conducted salvage and clearance operations in Tanapag Harbor.

Next serving on local convoy escort duties between Iwo Jima and Guam, Valve shifted to Okinawan waters in July.

When Colbert (APA-145) struck a drifting mine while on typhoon evasion on 17 September, Valve towed the stricken ship to a safe anchorage in Okinawa.

Valve subsequently conducted salvage operations on other typhoon damaged ships including Wateree (ATF-117), Sacandaga (AOG-40), LST-828, LST-581 and Vandalia (IX-191) through December 1945.