Late in October at the latter port, "Arikara" joined a convoy bound for the United States and headed home. She arrived in Norfolk on 7 November and remained in that vicinity into December. Late in that month, she voyaged to Trinidad where she took YFD-6 in tow before continuing on to the Panama Canal. "Arikara" reached the Canal Zone on 3 January 1945, transited the canal, and delivered her tow at Cristóbal on the 5th. The following day, she and "Bannock" (ATF-81) got underway for Hawaii. The tug entered Pearl Harbor later in January but remained there only until resuming her westward voyage on 4 February, bound ultimately for the Ryukyu Islands. After stops at Eniwetok and Guam, she reached Ulithi Atoll, in the Carolines, on 17 March. There, she reported for duty with Service Squadron (ServRon) 10 and began preparations for the conquest of Okinawa.