She was originally classified as PG-140 and re-designated PF-32 on 25 June 1943, was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1443) on 12 August 1943 at the Walter Butler Shipbuilding Company in Superior, Wisconsin; launched on 27 September 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Ernest E. Dupre, wife of the mayor of Woonsocket; ferried to the Boston Navy Yard for completion; accepted by the Navy on 27 July 1944; and commissioned with a Coast Guard crew on 1 September 1944.
Following shakedown off Bermuda, Woonsocket returned to Boston for conversion to a weather ship before proceeding to Newfoundland, arriving at NS Argentia on 30 October.
She performed meteorological charting duties off Newfoundland through the end of World War II and into the early months of 1946.
Woonsocket served with the Coast Guard until her final decommissioning on 18 September 1946 at New Orleans, Louisiana Struck from the Navy list on 14 May 1947, the frigate was subsequently transferred to the Government of Peru.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.