amphibious groups. Because they could take on extra personnel, they were often designated as rescue ships if a transport went down. After shakedown out of Guantanamo Bay, Kleinsmith arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on 21 July. Departing on 4 August for the Pacific, the high-speed transport steamed via the Panama Canal, San Diego, and Pearl Harbor, and reached Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on 1 October. She operated between Okinawa and the Japanese home islands until 21 February 1946. She then sailed from Sasebo via the Marshall Islands and Pearl Harbor, arriving at San Francisco on 24 March with 118 returning veterans embarked. Departing on 10 April, she proceeded via the Panama Canal to the East Coast, arriving at Norfolk on 1 May 1946. Based at Norfolk and NAB Little Creek, during the next six years, Kleinsmith operated along the Atlantic coast from Labrador to Venezuela while conducting amphibious and anti-submarine operations. She served primarily as an amphibious command ship; many of her cruises carried her into the Caribbean, where she operated out of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guantanamo Bay. 1951–1960 During January 1951, the Kleinsmith embarked an Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) at Little Creek to participate in the filming of The Frogmen, a Hollywood film chronicling the adventures of the Navy's UDT divers in the Pacific during World War II. Departing Norfolk on 3 January 1951, the warship stopped at Key West, Florida, and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, before commencing ten days of filming between 15 January and 6 February. According to the command historian, "Dana Andrews and Richard Widmark helped make the old 'klinker-dinker' a movie star." Returning from the Caribbean on 13 February 1951, Kleinsmith departed Little Creek on 5 March on the first of four deployments to the Mediterranean Sea. Arriving at Gibraltar on 15 March with UDT personnel embarked, she deployed with the 6th Fleet and participated in amphibious operations that ranged from Oran, Algeria, to Phaleron Bay, Greece. After serving as an amphibious control ship, she departed Gibraltar on 26 June for the United States, arriving at Little Creek on 6 July. On 19 July 1952, she departed for another four-month deployment with the 6th Fleet, and supported its important peace-keeping activities off the troubled lands of the Mediterranean. Returning to Little Creek on 29 January 1955, Kleinsmith resumed operations along the eastern seaboard to the Caribbean. On 9 January 1957,