 She was renamed "Winooski" (AO-38) on 9 January 1942; and commissioned at Baltimore, Maryland, on 27 January 1942, Commander Walter C. Ansel in command.Following a brief period of shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay, "Winooski" embarked upon her first mission in mid-February.She arrived in Baytown, Texas, on 25 February and began loading a cargo of fuel.