Following brief shakedown training, YMS-471 proceeded to Charleston, South Carolina, and began escorting coastwise convoys and conducting minesweeping operations.

After a long voyage which took her by way of the Panama Canal, San Diego, Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, Guam, and Saipan, the minesweeper finally joined the 3rd Fleet off Okinawa in June.

Soon thereafter, she headed north to begin the monumental job of clearing mines from waters around Japan for transports bringing American occupation forces and supporting shipping.

She concentrated on sweeping the approaches to the island of Honshū and remained at the task from 8 September 1945 until 20 February 1946, when she began preparations for the voyage back to the United States.

After a tour of duty at Yorktown, Virginia, serving as a training platform for the students of the Mine Warfare School, Verdin returned to Charleston in November where she remained until the following spring.