For the first five months of 1942, a time punctuated with yard periods at the Mare Island Navy Yard, "Arctic" operated between Pearl Harbor and San Francisco. She then deployed briefly to Alaskan waters, to supply the ships of Task Force 8 (TF 8) and shore facilities at Kodiak from 3–13 July. Returning thence to the west coast, she arrived at San Francisco on 24 July and soon thereafter sailed for the South Pacific. After touching "en route" at Pearl Harbor and at Tongatapu, "Arctic" commenced a routine of supplying ships and shore stations at New Caledonia and in the New Hebrides. Before 1942 was over, the storeship visited Noumea twice and Espiritu Santo once. During the following year, 1943, she voyaged twice to Nouméa, thrice to Espiritu Santo, and once to Efate, usually stopping at Samoa "en route" from the Hawaiian Islands. An overhaul at Alameda, California and at Oakland from 4 July-27 September broke this period of operations. Following her third call at Espiritu Santo from 23 October-5 November, "Arctic" returned again to the U.S. West Coast for engine repairs, reaching San Francisco on 29 November and remaining there into the following year.