Sailing from New Orleans 5 August 1945, Dorchester embarked troops at Pearl Harbor, then sailed to deliver cargo and receive more passengers at Eniwetok and Guam as she made her passage to Japan. On 15 October she reported for service as barracks ship at Wakayama and at Kobe from 11 February 1946 to 4 March. Dorchester then sailed for San Francisco, California, arriving 9 April.