Bunch was a native of Norman County , Minnesota. Kenneth C. Campbell, USNR , in command. After fitting out, Bunch departed Southwest Pass on 12 September She proceeded via Key West, Florida , and carried out her shakedown training near Bermuda until 15 October when she set course for Boston.
That same day, she made a sonar contact and attacked it with two " Hedgehog " patterns, though she later evaluated it as "non-submarine. Over the next eight months, the destroyer escort made six round-trip voyages across the Atlantic escorting convoys between New York and Derry , punctuating that work with refresher training at Casco Bay , Maine, and availabilities at Boston.
Redesignated APD on 31 July , she was also fitted out as a flagship during the 11 weeks of modifications. She completed conversion on 12 October and departed New York on the 13th. Steaming first to Hampton Roads and thence up the Chesapeake Bay , Bunch briefly visited Annapolis, Maryland , before she began training duty in the Bay. Between 23 October and 10 December, Bunch helped to prepare 11 other crews for their service in high-speed transports.
Following an availability at the St. Arriving in Panama on Christmas Day , she transited the canal the following day, reported to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, for duty and ultimately reached San Diego on 3 January Underway for Hawaii on the 9th, she arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 15th.
After fueling, the high-speed transport put to sea the next day in the screen of a convoy of which part was bound for the Western Carolines and the rest for the Philippines. At Leyte, the warship began preparations to carry out her part in the invasion of Okinawa. After UDT received a briefing on the mission ahead on the 7th, Bunch spent the period 9 to 13 March engaged in exercises at nearby Homonhon Island with seven other high-speed transports and some landing craft.
