She was laid down on 5 January 1945 at Orange, Texas, by the Consolidated Steel Corporation; launched on 16 June 1945; sponsored by Miss Sue Stickell; and commissioned on 31 October 1945.

Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, Stickell operated under Commander, Amphibious Training, Galveston, Texas, for a month, 10 December 1945 to 11 January 1946.

She then conducted shakedown training out of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, before arriving in Charleston, South Carolina, on 11 March for post-shakedown availability.

On 6 November 1950, Stickell completed overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard and sailed for the Korean War Zone with DesDiv 52.

During that deployment, she operated with the fast carriers off the southern and eastern coasts of Korea, participated in anti-submarine warfare exercises off Yokosuka, Japan, conducted shore bombardments of the Songjin-Wonsan area and patrolled the waters off Shingjin, Yong-do, and Chongjin for enemy small craft.

In addition, she landed Republic of Korea intelligence teams on hostile shores: and she rescued three air crewmen while on lifeguard duty for the carriers.

On 19 March, Stickell and the rest of DesDiv 52 joined the United Nations blockading and escort force, Task Group (TG) 95.2.

She was in Yokosuka from 29 May to 18 June for dry-docking and repairs before conducting a brief operation along Korea's east coast, including a night landing in the vicinity of Pohang Dong.

Stickell arrived in San Diego on 26 August and remained there until 13 December, when she was decommissioned at Long Beach to begin conversion to a radar picket destroyer (DDR).

Along the way, she visited Hong Kong, Singapore, Ceylon, Kenya, South Africa, Brazil, and Trinidad, She reached Norfolk, Virginia, on 10 August 1954 and joined DesDiv 262 of the Atlantic Fleet.

In the fall of 1962, Stickell participated in the Cuban Quarantine and showed great efficiency by departing Norfolk on very short notice to assume her station.

Stickell surrendered her anti-aircraft warfare electronics equipment in return for the latest in ASW gear, including ASROC missiles and DASH drone helicopters.

In June, Stickell joined TF 124, in supporting United States and other OAS forces operating in the Dominican Republic during the 1965 upheavals in that country.

After transiting the Panama Canal and brief stops at San Diego and Pearl Harbor, the ship commenced wartime operations in the South China Sea in support of the Republic of Vietnam.

During the deployment, the ship visited the following Far East ports: Kaohsiung, Formosa; Yokosuka, Japan; Subic Bay, Philippines; Hong Kong; route back to Newport — completely circumnavigating the world — crossing the equator near Indonesia.

During the northern European segment of the cruise, Stickell visited Bergen, Norway; Aarhus, Denmark; Sundsvall, Sweden; and Thurso, Scotland.

After leaving frozen Newport behind, Stickell participated in a variety of training operations designed to sharpen her crew's already finely honed efficiency.

On 2 July 1968, Stickell left Newport for a six-month, 13-nation cruise of the Indian Ocean as part of the Navy's Middle East Force.

She visited San Juan, Puerto Rico; Recife, Brazil; Luanda, Angola; Lourenço Marques, Mozambique; Port Louis, Mauritius; Cochin, India; Karachi, Pakistan; Bahrain; Massawa, Ethiopia; Mombasa, Kenya; Assab, Ethiopia; Bandar Abbas, Iran; Bushehr, Iran; Kuwait; and Dakar, Senegal — touching some ports more than once.

She was deployed to the Mediterranean again from September 1969 until late March 1970, when she returned to Norfolk, After post-deployment leave and upkeep, she headed to Davisville, Rhode Island, on 18 May for a month of hull repairs.

In the meantime, she visited ports in Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius, Bahrein, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Iran, India, Pakistan, Kenya, and Senegal.