He was awarded air medals for his aggressive performance of duty in the first few months of the war, especially for his strafing gun emplacements and Japanese barges during the raid on Lae and Salamaua, New Guinea, on 10 March 1942.

On 2 August 1945 while carrying out that duty north of Leyte, she received reports of large groups of survivors some 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) away and altered course to investigate.

Within 10 hours, Bassett joined in the rescue of survivors from the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis, which had been torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese submarine I-58.

After reaching the scene of the tragedy, Bassett rescued 154 Indianapolis survivors in a four-hour search and took them to the fleet hospital before returning to Leyte.

Detached from these duties on 18 November 1945, Bassett participated in Operation Magic Carpet, the massive homeward-bound movement of veterans, embarking passengers at Sasebo, Japan.

Upon returning these men to the United States West Coast, Bassett tarried briefly at San Diego, California, before shifting her area of operations to the Atlantic Ocean.

After reporting for duty to the Commander, Amphibious Force, United States Atlantic Fleet, on 19 December 1950, Bassett departed for Norfolk.

Finishing her training evolutions by 18 November 1955, she departed for the United States and reached Norfolk in time for her men to enjoy Thanksgiving with their families.

Passing the Rock of Gibraltar on 1 April 1956, Bassett began several months of operations in the Mediterranean, making goodwill port visits and engaging in amphibious exercises.

In the course of her training evolutions, Bassett served as primary control ship for the landing practice at Porto Scudo, Sardinia, and Dikili, Turkey, in addition to supporting her own underwater demolition unit in each instance.

After the seven-month Mediterranean deployment, Bassett reached Little Creek on 18 October 1956 and spent the remainder of the year there engaged in upkeep and post-deployment repairs.

Her other ports of call included the familiar ones of Guantanamo Bay and Vieques Island, as well as Coco Solo, Panama, and Morehead City, North Carolina.

She was commissioned at Boston into the Colombian Navy as ARC Almirante Tono (DT 04) on 6 September 1968 and, after shakedown and post-shakedown repairs, sailed for the naval base at Cartagena, Colombia.