The ship visited Dover, England, before heading homeward on 15 July. She reached Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the 22d, received post-shakedown repairs, and conducted further trials that lasted until 1 October, when she put to sea to join the Fleet. She fell in with her sister ship the next day, and the two ships reached Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on the 5th, where "Aylwin" unloaded a cargo of light freight. After transiting the Panama Canal on 7 October, she paused briefly at Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, before sailing on the 10th for a plane-guard station off Champerico, Guatemala, to provide a directional bearing along the projected track of the experimental flying boat XP3Y-1, the prototype of the PBY Catalina.