On 23 August, the tug cleared Tsingtao to return to the United States. After stops at Samar, Guam, Kwajalein, and Pearl Harbor, "Tekesta" entered port at San Francisco, California, on 12 November. For the following seven months, she was engaged in normal towing and salvage operations along the U.S. West Coast, ranging from San Francisco as far south as the Panama Canal. On 16 June 1947, she departed San Francisco and headed north. After stopovers at Bremerton and Seattle, Washington, she arrived at Kodiak, Alaska, for a year of duty in the Aleutians area. During that period, she called at Dutch Harbor, Fort Glenn, Attu, Adak, Amchitka, and various other ports of call in Alaska and along the Aleutians chain.