From October 1940 she assisted in the buildup of Central Pacific bases, being caught in transit from Hawaii to Wake Island when news of the attack on Pearl Harbor came.

In April 1943 the ship became flagship for Service Squadron (ServRon) 12 which was engaged in salvage, harbor clearance, restoration and building in forward areas of the Pacific, often as combat continued ashore.

The recreational facilities included a swimming tank, golf practice area along with social hall, smoking room, lounge and verandah cafe.

[1] The ship was placed "in ordinary," a non-commissioned status, as transport William Ward Burrows (AP-6) on 9 February at Pier 5 of the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia.

[3] After fitting-out, William Ward Burrows sailed from Norfolk on her maiden voyage on 6 July and proceeded to Weehawken, New Jersey, to take on a cargo of structural steel.

[3] The ship began a series of voyages that formed part of the belated American attempt to fortify her outposts in the Pacific - islands such as Wake, Midway, and Johnston.

On what proved to be her last pre-war voyage to Wake, the transport took westward a cargo of dynamite, as well as employees of civilian contractors and a sprinkling of Navy and Marine Corps personnel.

[3] William Ward Burrows remained at anchor to the south of Johnston Island that evening in an anchorage deemed safe from submarine attack.

One large shell struck 30 yards astern of William Ward Burrows with another passing over the forecastle and other splashes eruptingd from the waters between the ship and the island.

Between early February and mid-March, she made two more round-trip voyages to Midway before she conducted an inter-island trip among the Hawaiian islands carrying general cargo and transporting Army troops to Hilo and Maui.

She next voyaged to Midway, carrying general cargo, lumber, provisions, "reefer boxes", cable reels, and a two-ton truck while transporting naval and Marine Corps personnel.

[3] Following an overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, the ship loaded to within 90 percent of her capacity with 1,437 tons of ammunition, lumber and other cargo departing San Francisco at 1053 on 23 July.

[3] While passing through Indispensable Strait on the 29th, the ships received word from "Cactus," the codename for Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, at 1105 that an enemy air raid was imminent.

[3][note 4] The next day the transport passed a line to the minecraft Tracy which began pulling with William Ward Burrows running engines full astern but the towline parted.

They attacked Colhoun at 1512 after she had unloaded 17 tons of stores consigned to the Marine Corps garrison on Guadalcanal and, in two minutes, succeeded in scoring four direct hits.

Upon completing that task, she again headed for Kukum Point at 0545 on the 5th; she hove to at 0756 finding all available boats engaged in picking up the survivors from Little and Gregory, APD's that had tangled with a detachment of the "Tokyo Express" and been sunk by the gunfire of Japanese destroyers Yūdachi, Hatsuyuki, and Murakumo on the night of 4 and 5 September.

She continued her voyage through the Pacific war zone to Suva, in the Fiji Islands, in company with US Army Transport Ernest Hinds and escorted by destroyer Buchanan (DD-484).

Sailing in company with Ernest Hinds and escorted by light cruiser Raleigh (CL-7) William Ward Burrows made port at Pearl Harbor on 28 September.

[3] She remained at Pearl Harbor loading cargo at both the Hickam Field dock and at the Navy Yard before sailing 4 October for the Fiji Islands in company with seaplane tender Tangier (AV-8) and escorted by destroyer Woodworth (DD-460).

[3] The transport made one round-trip voyage to Midway and back before she shifted to the west coast of the United States for her second "stateside" visit since the war began.

(later Commodore) Leon S. Fiske, ServRon 12 would play a part in the stepping-stone advance that eventually carried American forces to the Japanese home islands themselves.

William Ward Burrows passed near Tinian on the 22d, observing from close-hand the preparatory bombardments paving the way for the landing of Major General Harry Schmidt's marines that would follow two days later.

On 30 July 1944, shortly after midnight, a tremendous explosion rocked the area; the concussion from the blast blew in the plywood light shields at the ship's hatches facing the island.

The flagship and Caravan continued their voyage joining the survey ship USS Hydrographer (AGS-2), auxiliary floating drydock ARD-16, and fleet ocean tug Pakana (ATF-108) on 4 October.

[3][17] Altering course toward Ulithi Atoll the ship effected the necessary minor repairs of the storm damage before again getting underway on 9 October 1944 bound for her original destination, the Palaus.

[3][17] Five days after her arrival, William Ward Burrows shifted to a position between the islands of Bairakaseru and Garakayo, where she lay to, while a survey boat from NCB 301 took soundings of a nearby inlet in preparation for anchoring ARD-16.

[3] The following day, the transport moved to the Yonabaru anchorage and began unloading equipment for the Seabee unit that had begun to establish camps on the beach.

[3] After that period of work offshore the ship got underway and proceeded to Chimu Wan, an anchorage on the northward side of Buckner Bay, and dropped anchor there on 2 July 1945.

Air alerts continued to make life hectic almost until the end when Japan indicated a willingness to surrender and accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration on 15 August 1945.

[1] On 30 April 1957, after first bids were rejected as too low, the ship was sold to National Metal & Steel Corporation for $111,887.87 and withdrawn from the reserve fleet by the purchaser 18 May 1957 for scrapping.