"Baham" was delivered to the Navy on 31 December 1943, under a bare-boat charter; placed in reduced commission on 1 January 1944, for the voyage to the Charleston Navy Yard; decommissioned there on 6 January 1944, for conversion to a combination repair, distilling, and stores-issue ship; redesignated AG-71 on 14 March 1944; and placed in commission on 18 August 1944, Lieutenant Gavin L. Field, USNR, in command.