Klickitat was laid down on 16 December 1944, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2624, by the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida; sponsored by Mrs. I. B. McDaniel; acquired by the US Navy and commissioned 14 July 1945.
Departing Jacksonville, 28 July, Klickitat arrived Hampton Roads, Virginia, 31 July. After shakedown in the Chesapeake Bay, the gasoline tanker proceeded on 23 August, for Rockland, Maine, arriving 26 August. She returned to Norfolk, 3 September, and departed 23 November, with her sister ship, for Houston, Texas. Arriving 2 December, she loaded a cargo of diesel oil, sailed 3 December, for the East Coast, and arrived Norfolk, 12 December. Remaining at Norfolk, Klickitat decommissioned 23 January 1946, and was returned to the Maritime Commission (MARCOM) 24 January. Her name was struck from the Navy List 7 February 1946.
Klickitat was laid up in the James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia, on 24 January 1946. On 20 August 1948, she was sold for commercial use to Manuel Rodriguez Trading Corp., and renamed Captain. Wrecked in 1948, she was rebuilt and sold to the Argentine Navy at no cost and renamed Punta Loyola.