"Worcester", assigned to Cruiser Division (CruDiv) 10, spent the first year of her commissioned service completing her fitting out, conducting shakedown training off the eastern seaboard of the United States, and undergoing availability and type training. In the summer of 1949, she participated in her first large-scale training exercises in Guantanamo Bay and visited Kingston, Jamaica. Late in the summer, she sailed for the Mediterranean, departing Newport, Rhode Island, on 6 September 1949 and reaching Gibraltar 10 days later. She made her first deployment with the 6th Fleet in the ensuing months, visiting Malta; Bizerte, Tunisia; Golfe-Juan, France; Argostoli and Phaleron Bay, Greece; Iskenderum, Turkey; Trieste and Venice, Italy; and Gibraltar. During that 6th Fleet deployment, she engaged in exercises and maneuvers with fast carrier task forces, including the carrier and the heavy cruiser . She returned to Norfolk, Virginia on 10 December.