 Following shakedown training and operations out of Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek at Virginia Beach, Virginia, "LST-1157" departed Morehead City, North Carolina, on 25 September 1953 with a full load of United States Marines and amphibious vehicles for transfer to the United States Pacific Fleet and arrived in San Diego, on 25 October 1953.Assigned to Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet, "LST-1157" operated out of San Diego into February 1954 before getting underway for the Central Pacific.She soon took part in moving natives from northern islands in the Marshall Islands to new homes in southern islands in May and June 1954.