World War II, 1944–1945

After fitting out at Oakland, Uvalde ran her trials before departing San Francisco Bay on 29 August, bound for San Pedro, California She conducted extensive shakedown training out of that port before she shifted to San Diego, there to train in amphibious warfare from 15 through 30 September in company with the attack transport Appling (APA-58).

In yard hands at Terminal Island, California, for post-shakedown availability until 10 October, Uvalde got underway and churned out of Los Angeles harbor, bound for San Francisco. Uvalde subsequently loaded cargo at that port from 11 through 19 October.

Post-war operations, 1944–1950

For Uvalde, the war had been a short one, but there still remained the duty of returning the many soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen home from the fighting fronts. The attack cargo ship took part in those operations well into 1946, also earning the Navy's Occupation Service Medal for operations in Chinese waters in ensuing months.

Korean War, 1950–1953

Up until mid-1950, Uvalde transported troops and cargo to American outposts in Asia, supporting the United States presence in that area of the world Uvalde participated in the United Nations efforts to stem North Korean aggression after that nation invaded neighboring South Korea in June 1950, deploying to Korean waters with troops and cargo on numerous occasions.

New Year's Day 1951 found Uvalde at Sasebo, Japan – nine days later she got underway, bound for the west coast of the United States, and she reached her destination two weeks later on the 24th. Shifting to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for repairs and alterations on the 30th, the attack cargo ship remained in yard hands until early April, when she shifted to San Diego to conduct underway training evolutions.

After three weeks of post-repair training, Uvalde shifted to the naval supply center at Oakland, California, when she loaded cargo earmarked for the Far East. The attack cargo ship subsequently made three round-trip voyages, touching at Sasebo and Yokosuka in the west and Oakland in the east over the remainder of 1951.

Uvalde spent much of 1952 engaged in the same shuttle operations that had kept her occupied since the onset of the Korean War. She visited Korean waters in the latter half of the month of March 1952, touching at Sokcho Ri and Paengyong Do before resuming her west coast-to-Japan shuttle voyages with her termini at Oakland, Sasebo, and Yokosuka. During August 1952, the ship made a short recreational stop at Pearl Harbor.

During the late autumn of 1952, Uvalde remained in Japanese waters, undergoing a drydocking at Yokosuka in late November before she sailed for Oakland on the 23rd of that month. Reaching Treasure Island, San Francisco, on 8 December, the attack cargo ship went into the naval shipyard at Mare Island three days later.

Uvalde overhauled at Mare Island into mid-February, 1953, after which time she conducted the usual under way training evolutions before resuming west coast-to-Japan shuttle voyages. She called at Korean ports once, visiting Pohang in May 1953, spending most of her time in Japanese waters. Ports included during that cruise included Sasebo, Yokosuka, and Nagasaki.

Pacific Fleet, 1954–1957

February through July of the following year, 1954, was spent in shuttle service between the Naval Supply Center, Oakland, and the Far East, with a recreational visit to Nagasaki in April. During July, the ship arrived at Yokosuka and, after a trip to Sasebo and return, loaded a cargo of rice and medical supplies, setting sail for French Indochina to assist in "Operation Passage to Freedom."

Uvalde reached Tourane Bay, French Indochina, on 28 August and remained there, supporting "Passage to Freedom" operations until 10 September, when she got underway to return to Oakland. Over the next few years, Uvalde's routine would remain much the same, sailing back and forth across the Pacific on the supply line from the west coast of the United States to American military bases in the Far East.

Reserve and reinstatement, 1957–1961

Mothballed in 1957, and becoming a part of the Reserve Fleet, Uvalde was struck from the Navy List on 1 July 1960, but was reinstated on 1 September 1961, because of the Berlin Crisis. Uvalde was recommissioned on 18 November 1961.

Atlantic Fleet, 1957–1962

Ordered to duty with the Atlantic Fleet, the attack cargo ship — with a new lease on life — got underway for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and five weeks of training in December. After a voyage that had taken her via Mazatlán, Mexico; the Panama Canal; and Guantanamo (where she engaged in refresher training operations as scheduled), Uvalde reached her new assigned home port, Norfolk, Virginia, in February 1962. She thus became a part of the Amphibious Force of the Atlantic Fleet.

After a post-shakedown overhaul, Uvalde took part in amphibious exercises at Vieques, Puerto Rico (Lant-PhibLex 1-62) in April — her first major exercise since recommissioning. By the end of the year 1962, the veteran attack cargo vessel had deployed on various 2nd Fleet exercises and maneuvers in the western Atlantic and Caribbean areas. Attached to Amphibious Squadron (PhibRon) 10 from 22 October to 5 December, Uvalde supported the Fleet during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when President John F. Kennedy "quarantined" Cuba over the presence of offensive Soviet missiles on that strategic isle.

Mediterranean, 1963–1968

Subsequently, Uvalde spent all of January 1963, engaged in pre-deployment upkeep. She sailed on 4 February, shaping course for the Mediterranean, and operated with the 6th Fleet through mid-May, touching at Naples, Italy; Athens, Greece; İzmir, Turkey; Rhodes, Greece; Golfe Juan, France; and Barcelona, Spain; during the course of her operations.

After returning to Norfolk for upkeep and independent ship exercises, Uvalde deployed to the Caribbean as part of the Amphibious Ready Squadron, calling at San Juan, Puerto Rico, during that cruise that carried over into late February 1964 as part of PhibRon 8. She deployed again to the Caribbean from late June to late September 1965, before she later participated in Exercise "Steel Pike I", during the latter cruise, she visited Gran Canaria, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.

Returning to her home port, Norfolk, in late November, Uvalde shifted to the New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, New York, on 7 January. She remained there, undergoing repairs and alterations, until 28 April, after which time she headed south, ultimately conducting refresher training in Guantanamo Bay.

In late June, Uvalde supported the American intervention in the Dominican Republic, serving as "bulk fuel control ship" between 18 June and 28 June. The ship then conducted independent exercises and underwent some needed upkeep through mid-July.

Uvalde subsequently trained out of Little Creek, Virginia, for 10 days in July before resuming scheduled independent ship exercises and upkeep periods out of, and at, Norfolk. That autumn, she deployed to the Mediterranean for the second time as a unit of PhibRon 10. During that cruise — lasting into mid-March 1966 — Uvalde operated with Task Force 61, visiting Marseilles and Toulon, France; Malta; Naples, Genoa, and Livorno, Italy; Barcelona and Mazarron, Spain; and Porto Scudo and Santa Manza, Corsica.

Reaching the end of the deployment, Uvalde left Palma, Majorca, in her wake on 17 March, bound for Rota, Spain, the turnover point, where she would be relieved of her duties with the 6th Fleet. She then began her homeward-bound voyage on 20 March, setting course for Morehead City, North Carolina.

Midway across the Atlantic, Uvalde picked up distress signals from a Danish merchantman, the refrigerator ship SS Chilean Reefer. One of the freighter's crewmen was desperately ill and needed prompt medical attention — care that the ship was apparently unable to supply. Uvalde immediately reversed course and sped to her assistance. The attack cargo ship took on board the patient, transferring him from Chilean Reefer in an LCM, where treatment commenced as soon as he came on board. The sailor remained on board to return to a hospital in the United States for treatment.

Uvalde ultimately reached Morehead City and there disembarked her detachment of marines and off-loaded their equipment. Uvalde's crew, eager to continue on the homeward-bound leg of their voyage after the six-month Mediterranean cruise, worked all night to unload the ship so that the ship could sail the next morning, as soon as possible. Uvalde reached her home port, Norfolk, on 3 April 1966. As her commanding officer wrote in retrospect: "It was a good deployment, but it was even better to be back home again."

The attack cargo ship subsequently deployed to the Mediterranean two more times in her career, from April to August 1967 and again during the summer of 1968, returning to Morehead City, N.C., on 14 September and Norfolk the following day. She remained on active operations with the Atlantic Fleet into 1968.

Decommissioning and sale

Ultimately declared "unfit for further service", and replaced by a Charleston-class amphibious cargo ship, with significant increases in combat vehicle and cargo stowage and better combat characteristics, Uvalde was decommissioned and struck from the Navy List on 1 December 1968. Transferred to the Maritime Administration on 26 June 1969 for disposal, Uvalde's hulk was simultaneously sold to Levin Metals Corp., of San Jose, California, and scrapped.