After shakedown, Gannet departed Puget Sound on 4 August 1961 and arrived Long Beach, California, on 9 August. As a unit of Mine Division 92, she operated off southern California and conducted exercises in mine countermeasures. During the first two weeks in June 1962 she participated in Joint Task Force 8 nuclear tests off the California coast. Local operations out of Long Beach, California, continued until 2 July when she departed for Japan via Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guam, arriving Sasebo on 13 August.