After fitting out and conducting sea trials,
Velocity took on further supplies, underwent yard work at
New Orleans, Louisiana, conducted
minesweeping training out of
Burrwood, Louisiana, and practiced
anti-submarine tactics out of
Key West, Florida. Departing the
Florida Keys on 3 May, the minecraft arrived at
Norfolk, Virginia, on the 6th and escorted a coastal
convoy to
Charleston, South Carolina, before undergoing further yard work at the Norfolk, Virginia, Navy Yard. Departing Norfolk, Virginia, on 6 June,
Velocity arrived at Key West, Florida, three days later, en route to the
Panama Canal Zone. She then escorted eight
LST's across the
Gulf of Mexico to
Balboa, before she transited the canal on 18 June. She departed the Panama Canal Zone on the 24th, but her onward routing was cancelled; and she put back into port soon thereafter. She conducted local operations out of Balboa into July, after which time she transported a cargo of diesel fuel oil to
Baltra Island, in the
Galapagos group, to alleviate a critical fuel shortage there. When she returned to Balboa, she conducted further local operations, including towing targets for the aircraft from a carrier task group training in the vicinity — including , , and .
Velocity subsequently escorted floating
drydocks
ABD-1 and
ABD-2 and their tows, and , to the
New Hebrides Islands, arriving at
Espiritu Santo on 24 September. The minesweeper soon shifted to
Noumea,
New Caledonia. She operated put of this port on convoy escort and local patrol duties into mid-1944, escorting ships to the
New Hebrides, the
Solomons, the
Ellice Islands, and the
Bismarck Archipelago. == Pacific Operations with the Third Fleet ==