Following shakedown, Tillman operated out of Charleston Navy Yard with Division 20, Squadron 9, Destroyer Flotilla 1, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, until the summer of 1921.

The Royal Navy's destroyer forces had suffered losses in the Atlantic, as well as in the Norwegian debacle and the evacuation of Dunkirk.

Wells eventually arrived in the United Kingdom and was soon assigned to the 17th Destroyer Division, which provided escorts for the 1st Minelaying Squadron.

Wells was modified for trade convoy escort service by removal of three of the original 4"/50 caliber guns and one of the triple torpedo tube mounts to reduce topside weight for additional depth charge stowage and installation of Hedgehog anti-submarine mortars.

[1] On 16 January 1942, she intercepted an SOS from SS R. J. Cullen—an American merchantman which had run aground on the southeast side of Barra Island, in the Outer Hebrides, west of Scotland.

Heavy seas initially made launching a boat a virtual impossibility, but Wells stood by until lifeboats and tugs arrived and transported the steamer's crew safely ashore.

While escorting two transports later that spring, Wells and HMS Brighton were bombed by German aircraft west of the Faroe Islands, but escaped damage.

Early in 1945, after refitting at the Clyde in late 1944, she became a target ship for aircraft training with the Western Approaches Command, a role in which she served until reduced to reserve status at Greenock after World War II, in mid-1945.