The ship was laid down as Fleetwing, a type C2-S-AJ1 cargo vessel, under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1349) on 7 August 1943 at Wilmington, N.C., by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company.

The ship reached Milne Bay at 17:25 on 31 July and ten days later, embarked Rear Admiral William Fechteler from USS Blue Ridge (AGC-2).

On 15 September, air strikes and surface bombardments softened up the invasion beaches; and American troops splashed ashore to occupy the island.

Enemy air retaliation materialized swiftly in the wake of the American landings; and Wasatch's gunners stood at their weapons, ready to augment the heavy volume of anti-aircraft fire from other Allied ships that fought off the attackers.

Anchored off "White Beach" early on the morning of the 25th, those on watch topside in Wasatch saw lightning-like flickerings of gunfire in the distance to the southward, as Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf's battleships and cruisers crossed the "T" of the Japanese "Southern Force" and in short order annihilated the enemy warships in the Battle of Surigao Strait.

On the 29th, the command ship got underway for New Guinea, in company with a powerful battleship-cruiser force, and, although buffeted by 80-knot winds en route, completed a safe passage to Humboldt Bay at 12:18 on 2 November.

There, while intense planning sessions were occurring on board — in preparation for the Lingayen Gulf landings in January of the following year — Rear Admiral James L. Kauffman embarked to establish his temporary headquarters in Wasatch as Commander, Philippine Sea Frontier, from 29 November to 2 December.

Japanese suicide aircraft materialized off the coast near Manila; and, as she had done earlier, Wasatch put up a heavy barrage of anti-aircraft fire from every gun in her battery from 20 millimeter to 5 inch.

As American troops consolidated their beachhead at Lingayen, Wasatch, in company with USS Kimberly (DD-521), departed the area on 27 January, bound for Mindoro where she anchored at 05:30 on the 29th.

Rear Admiral Noble shifted to Spencer on 1 May for landings in southern Mindanao and later used Wasatch as his base when he traveled to and from Manila on important conferences through the end of the month.

Shifting to Humboldt Bay once more, and then to Seeadler Harbor, Manus, in the Admiralties, Wasatch was undergoing general repairs and an overhaul when she received word on 15 August of Japan's surrender.

Struck from the Navy list on 1 January 1960, the ship was transferred to the Maritime Administration and sold for scrapping to the National Metal and Steel Corporation, of Terminal Island, California.