The vessel, originally designated YN–110, was laid down 9 February 1944 by the Marine Iron and Shipbuilding Co., Duluth, Minnesota. The ship was renamed Oneota on 26 February 1944 and launched on 27 May 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Peter S. Rudie. The ship was commissioned on 12 March 1945.
On 10 April 1945 Oneota steamed out into Lake Superior en route to the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean. Arriving Boston, Massachusetts, early in May, she remained in southern New England waters for a month, then headed for the Pacific Ocean.
Between 25 July 1945 and 21 January 1946 she operated along the U.S. West Coast from the Naval Net Depot, Tiburon, California, and on 29 January she arrived at Pearl Harbor for a 2-month stay. Assigned to Joint Task Unit (JTU) 1.2.7, the salvage group for Operation Crossroads in March, she steamed for Bikini Atoll on 22 March. There, on 2 April, she joined others of her task group in preparing nearby waters for atomic tests Able and Baker. Until July she planted moorings and assisted in the arrangement of target vessels.
Following the tests of 1 and 25 July, she participated in salvage operations and, on 26 August, departed for Kwajalein and Guam. Between 13 September and 15 October she plied between Guam and Rota, then steamed east for the United States.
After stays at Pearl Harbor and San Francisco, California, she arrived at San Diego, California, 26 January 1947, for inactivation. Decommissioned 6 February, she remained at San Diego as a unit of the Pacific Reserve Fleet until transferred to the U.S. Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet and laid up at Suisun Bay 7 November 1962. She was eventually struck from the Navy List (date unknown); her fate is unknown.