 Designated "T-AK–253", the Victory ship was manned by a civil service crew and operated under Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as a cargo ship until October 1958.Then fitted out as a missile range instrumentation ship, she was reassigned by MSTS to the Pacific Missile Range.Renamed and reclassified USNS "Richfield" (AGM–4) on 27 November 1960, she operated off the California coast, in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force.