On 8 Jan 1945, the S.B. Hunt was acquired by the US Navy from the US War Shipping Administration (WSA) in Pearl Harbor as fuel storage ship USS Flambeau (IX 192) and served in Saipan until July 1945 and then in Iwo Jima.

Post-war:
On 30 Dec 1945, USS Flambeau (IX 192) left Pearl Harbor for Norfolk, where she was decommissioned on 6 Apr 1946. The tanker was taken over by the US Maritime Commission and renamed S.B. Hunt. Broken up at Baltimore in late 1947.

At 08.29 hours on 7 July 1943, U-185 attacked convoy BT-18 about 125 miles east of Fortaleza, Brazil for the second time and reported hits on a tanker and an ammunition ship that were sinking slowly. The ships hit were S.B. Hunt and Thomas Sinnickson.

The S.B. Hunt (Master Henry S. Westmoreland) in station #51 was hit by one torpedo on the port side at the bulkhead between the pump room and #4 tank. The explosion opened a hole 45 feet by 35 feet in the side but the tanker was able to continue with convoy. None of the eight officers, 29 crewmen and eleven armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in and two .50cal guns) reported injuries.
The S.B. Hunt arrived at Trinidad for temporary repairs and after permanent repairs carried out in Galveston she returned to service on 4 November.