Following shakedown in Chesapeake Bay, "Kenmore" put in at Norfolk, Virginia, on 6 September and embarked men and equipment of the 13th Marine Defense Battalion and the 18th and 19th Naval Construction Battalions. Departing on 19 September, she docked at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on 24 September and steamed in convoy for the Pacific on 4 October. Arriving off Nouméa, New Caledonia, on 11 November, she debarked her troops and offloaded her cargo, then reported on 9 November to Rear Adm. Richmond K. Turner, Commander, Amphibious Forces, South Pacific.