The second ship to be so named by the Navy, Cohoes (AN-78) was launched on 29 November 1944 by Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon; sponsored by Mrs. W. W. Johnson. The ship was commissioned on 23 March 1945 and reported to the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
After training at Pearl Harbor, Cohoes sailed 20 June 1945 for Eniwetok, arriving 2 July. She remained at Eniwetok installing, maintaining, and then removing the net line there until 16 October, when she sailed for Ponape, arriving 18 October to lay a mooring.
In Langar Roads, she salvaged and re-laid a Japanese mooring buoy, and performed similar operations in the Caroline Islands and in the Marshall Islands until 20 November, when she cleared Kwajalein for Pearl Harbor and San Francisco, California, arriving 12 December for duty at Tiburon Net Depot at Tiburon, California.
Cohoes served at Tiburon until 8 April 1946, when she sailed for duty at Astoria, Oregon. She returned to San Francisco 3 September, and remained there until 25 August 1947 when she sailed for San Diego, California, arriving 27 August. There Cohoes was placed out of commission in reserve 3 September 1947.
Cohoes was re-commissioned in 1968 and served in the Vietnam War. The Navy journal (DANFS) is not complete at this date, but other sources indicate that Cohoes was active in the Vietnam area based on the numerous campaign stars she was awarded:
Cohoes was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 30 June 1972.