Diverted while en route, "Albemarle" anchored in the harbor at San Juan, Puerto Rico, on the morning of 28 February, and that afternoon received the official call of Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, Commandant of the 10th Naval District. That same day, she embarked 91 men from Patrol Squadron (VP) 51 and VP-61 from VP-52 for temporary duty and transportation, and sailed for Norfolk on the morning of 2 March. While en route, Commander Mullinnix was relieved as commanding officer by Commander H. B. Sallada. "Albemarle" moored at Pier 7, Naval Operating Base (NOB), Norfolk, on the afternoon of 5 March, but lingered there for less than a day, getting underway the following afternoon for Philadelphia. She returned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard and spent the rest of March there, undergoing post-shakedown repairs. The seaplane tender departed Philadelphia on 6 April, and arrived back at Norfolk the following afternoon; there she took on board depth charges and depth bombs. She sailed for Newport on the morning of 10 April, and soon after standing out into international waters past the Virginia Capes, met her escort for the trip – six "flush-deck" destroyers, one of which was the ill-fated . That afternoon she fueled two of her escorts, and at the same time, the former to starboard, the latter to port.