San Diego remained her home port until the Battle Fleet moved to Pearl Harbor in 1940.

She arrived in Bermuda on 11 November 1941 to support Neutrality Patrol destroyers, and was subsequently stationed in Trinidad and Guantánamo Bay through World War II.

After serving briefly in the Mediterranean, she was decommissioned at Norfolk Naval Shipyard from 1924 to 1940, and never received the 5-inch gun carried by her sisters.

She was stationed at San Diego until reclassified as repair ship (AR-11) in April 1941, and only received four Bofors guns while her sisters carried six as destroyer tenders.

She was then stationed in New Guinea providing repair services to the VII Amphibious Force from 7 June 1943 to 10 January 1945; and spent the remainder of 1945 in the Philippines.