[6] Allen was rearmed during World War II for escort operations, with two triple torpedo-tube mounts being removed to accommodate depth charge projectors and six Oerlikon 20 mm cannons.

On the night of 30 April/1 May 1917, Allen was escorting the battleship Connecticut when she collided with the destroyer Duncan, damaging both ships.

[3] On 14 June, the destroyer put to sea from New York in the escort of one of the first convoys to take American troops to Europe.

[10] One of the last duties the destroyer performed in European waters came in December 1918 when she helped to escort George Washington, with President Woodrow Wilson embarked, into Brest, France, on the 13th.

After voyage repairs, the destroyer resumed duty along the East Coast and in the West Indies with the United States Atlantic Fleet.

By the time Allen returned to commission, the Pacific Fleet had been moved from its base on the United States West Coast to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii as a gesture to "restrain" the Japanese.

Therefore, Allen moved to the Hawaiian base, whence she operated until the beginning of hostilities between the United States and Japan.

On the morning of 7 December 1941, Allen was moored in East Loch to the northeast of Ford Island and just southeast of the hospital ship USS Solace.

During the Japanese attack on the harbor that morning, it was claimed that Allen assisted in downing three enemy planes.

Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 November 1945, and she was sold to the Boston Metals Company, Baltimore, Maryland, on 26 September 1946 for scrapping.