The ship spent January and February 1946 in Japanese home waters, and then steamed for Bikini Atoll to assist in sweeping operations to prepare the area for Operation Crossroads tests of atomic bombs to be conducted there in July. Before the tests took place, "Thompson" headed back to the United States. She remained at San Francisco, through July and then spent two months in overhaul at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California. From Mare Island, she returned to San Francisco to operate out of that port until late in the year. After six months of operation at San Francisco, she sailed for China on 10 February 1947, and proceeded via Pearl Harbor, Guam, and Kwajalein to Tsingtao.