Bearss arrived at Ominato, Honshū, 8 September 1945 and patrolled along the southern coast of Hokkaidō until returning to the United States.

In August and September 1958, the Bearss was part of Navy Task Force 88 (TF 88), during Operation Argus, which was involved in conducting nuclear tests in the very high atmosphere.

Homeported in Norfolk, Bearss was transferred to duty as a "reserve destroyer" in 1960 or 61, with a skeleton crew of active duty Navy personnel and a reserve crew that drilled aboard one weekend a month.

The reserve crew was called to active duty (as a result of the Cuban missile crisis???)

and reported onboard 23 Oct. 1961, left shortly thereafter for "refresher training" at the Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and returned to Norfolk in January 1962.