On 15 January 1962 the ammunition ship got underway from Norfolk for shakedown off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, into late February. Following an off-base overhaul in Red Bank, Brooklyn, New York during the fall of 1963, the aft 3 inch- 50 guns were removed and replaced with a helo deck for VertRep ( vertical replenishment ) trials as the first ammo ship to develop this exercise. For the next seven years "Mauna Loa" continued a pattern of upkeep and supply service along the east coast out of Norfolk and Earle, interspersed with training cruises and exercises in the Caribbean.