 Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS) on 28 February 1946, "Kankakee" departed San Pedro on 13 March to serve as station tanker in Japan and China.For much of the next five years, she cruised the North Pacific Ocean from Alaska to the Philippines.During 1946 and 1947 she transported fuel oil from Bahrein in the Persian Gulf to Japan and the Philippines.