After shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay, during which she also served as training ship for crews to be assigned to other tank landing ships, LST-389 departed Norfolk on 19 February 1943, bound for Bayonne, New Jersey where she took on board one tank landing craft (LCT), United States Army troops, and a cargo of medical supplies. Sailing with convoy UGS 6A on 19 March, she proceeded via Bermuda to North Africa and reached Nemours, Algeria on 13 April. Soon shifting to the Arzew Naval Base, Algeria the ship became the flagship for Captain Frank Adams, Commander, LST Group 5, Flotilla 2. LST-389 was soon involved in the campaign to invade Sicily, a steppingstone to Italy.