Soon thereafter, ships of the newly reconstituted Squadron Two participated in the intensive search for the famed aviator Amelia Earhart [Putnam], her navigator Frederick J. Noonan, and their twin-engine Lockheed 10-E Electra that had disappeared en route to Howland Island.

Scrapping disposed of Lang, Sterett, Russell, Morris and Roe while Stack, Wilson, Hughes, Anderson, Mustin and Wainwright served as targets during Operation Crossroads, the Bikini atomic tests.

Scientists monitored the contaminated ships until 1948, when they were scuttled by gunfire—Stack, Wilson, Mustin and Wainwright off Kwajalein in April and July, and Hughes, the last surviving member of the squadron, near California's Farallon Islands in October.

DesRon 2's ships served with distinction both as a part of Task Forces (TF) 77 and 95, supporting shore bombardment, search and rescue, anti-submarine screening (Hunter/Killer Groups), picket duty, and air-control missions.

The tour proved brief, however, for, on the evening of the 16th, the destroyer struck a floating mine, the explosion tearing a 15-foot by 25-foot hole in the starboard side, completely flooding the forward fireroom and killing five men and wounding seven of those on watch there.

Training exercises and Atlantic Fleet maneuvers out of Norfolk, generally operating in the Virginia capes area and the West Indies, followed as the composition of DesRon 2 remained constant during 1955 and into 1956.

The ships participated in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Exercise Whipsaw, after which Barton and Soley steamed to Port Said, Egypt, to transit the Suez Canal and proceed into the Persian Gulf for a routine six-week patrol with the Middle East Force.

On 29 October 1956, Barton and Soley started south from the vicinity of Abadan, Iran, to leave the gulf, circumnavigate the Arabian Peninsula, and retransit the Suez Canal.

As the new year 1959 began, DesRon 2 was still operating under the operational control of Commander, 6th Fleet, with John R. Pierce and Soley having worked round-the-clock through Christmas of 1958 and New Year's Day of 1959, endeavoring to prevent the sinking of the Panamanian-flag tanker Mirador following an onboard explosion and fire at Iskenderun Bay, Turkey; DC2 John L. King, from Soley's damage control party, perished in the battle with the flames, but the destroyermen managed to quell the fires.

A second outbreak of fire on board Mirador in mid-January, however, caused another explosion that eventually claimed the ship, and in the process set afire the Turkish salvage vessel Imroz, that Soley saved when her firefighters made quick work of the flames.

"Keeping our ships in fighting trim and ready for all commitments,"[This quote needs a citation] one observer noted, "now, more than ever before, requires all-out effort and cooperation from all hands at all times.

In those exercises, DesRon 2 destroyers acted as the coordinating unit of a team that included fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, to test new attack and screening methods against conventional and nuclear-powered submarines.

In addition, Soley proceeded to the waters off the Dominican Republic, in readiness to evacuate Americans if unrest should arise in the wake of the assassination of Rafael Trujillo, as did Borie and Wallace L. Lind, after which the latter two ships "chased [Project] Mercury shots…and a myriad of other assignments.

The Mediterranean deployment involved fleet exercises as well as visits to liberty ports including Suda Bay, Crete; Piraeus, Greece; Naples and Genoa, Italy, and Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Remaining briefly in port, the squadron – minus Borie and Wallace L. Lind – took part in an amphibious demonstration for President John F. Kennedy at Onslow Beach, North Carolina.

Resuming Mercury shot recovery operations, John R. Pierce recovered the Aurora 7 capsule after a helicopter from USS Intrepid had retrieved astronaut Lt. Comdr.

Soon thereafter, in March 1963, Barton, John R. Pierce, Soley, English, and Hank operated under the Commander Mid East Force while serving in the Red and Arabian Seas as well and the Indian Ocean.

The destroyers held "open ship" for general visiting at Copenhagen, Denmark, and Helsinki, Finland, before heading home on 10 September, proceeding via the Kiel Canal, Portsmouth, England, and the Azores.

The next year, 1968, saw DesRon 2's temporary transfer to the Western Pacific (WestPac), when the squadron – Blandy, Rich, Borie and Steinaker — was ordered to Vietnam to operate with the Seventh Fleet.

In addition, ships of DesRon 2 took part in Operation Sea Dragon, providing suppression fire against North Vietnamese coastal defense gun sites.

The following year, 1970, DesRon 2 participated in extensive training, first, in the Caribbean for RIMEX IV-70, and later in the Mediterranean where, as part of TF 60, it conducted Exercise National Week in the Ionian Sea.

Under the flagship, guided missile cruiser USS Harry E. Yarnell, DesRon 2 began 1972 by sailing from Valencia, Spain, to intercept, follow, and gather intelligence on Soviet warships in the Western Mediterranean as part of Bystander Operations.

In November, ComDesRon 2 participated in Operation Quick Draw with Italian Navy units, and the next month, took part in National Week XVI, before spending the holidays in Barcelona, Spain and returning to Norfolk on 15 May 1975.

Participating in further ASW exercises and visiting ports in Italy, France, and Spain, it remained in the Mediterranean for the remainder of the year, and, on 30 December, set out to conduct surveillance operations in the Gulf of Sollum off the United Arab Republic and Libyan littorals.

A reorganization of the Atlantic Fleet Destroyer squadrons on 4 April gave DesRon 2 an administrative disparate complement of 16 ships, a number lessened by one with the decommissioning of USS Mitscher on 1 June.

Following a port visit to Dubrovnik, Croatia (5–9 January 2001), ComDesRon 2 in Porter, serving as Commander Task Force 60 with the departure of Harry S. Truman deploying to the Persian Gulf, got underway for the eastern Mediterranean to conduct Reliant Mermaid, after which the ships paused briefly at Souda Bay, Crete (2–5 February).

Punctuating the remainder of the deployment with exercises Babylon Express (19 April) and SHAREM 137 (21 April), and visits to Antalya, Turkey and a return call to Gaeta, and Málaga, ComDesRon 2 embarked in Stump for the return crossing on 11 May, and reached Norfolk on the 24th, concluding the deployment of the Harry S. Truman Battle Group DesRon 2 began the year 2002 with five permanently assigned ships, Arleigh Burke, Porter, Stump, USS Winston S. Churchill (that had been assigned to DesRon 2 on 1 December 2001), and Carr, with ComDesRon 2 inport at Norfolk.

The first was Smart Search '02 (12–19 July) during which a ready destroyer squadron deployed on short notice in the event of the proximity of a forward-deployed submarine, using Arleigh Burke, Carr, and Porter, in addition to organic LAMPS helicopters and other assets.

As the SCC, ComDesRon 2 was responsible for numerous mission areas, including surface warfare, force defense, LAMPS element coordinator and Maritime Interception Operations (MIO) commander.

Parry, RN, ComDesRon 2 embarked in HMS Albion, Arleigh Burke, Winston S. Churchill, and Porter participated in that exercise that stressed naval and marine coalition coordination in a littoral environment.