It was named for Edward B. Cole, a United States Marine Corps officer who died as a result of the wounds he received at the Battle of Belleau Wood.

For the next year they aided in the evacuation of refugees fleeing turmoil and war in the Middle East and showed the flag in the eastern Mediterranean and Black Seas, returning to New York City on 4 June 1920.

She put to sea from Norfolk, Virginia on 24 October for the invasion of North Africa on 8 November during which she landed 175 men of the 47th Infantry under fire on a pier at Safi, Morocco.

Along with patrol and escort duties in the Western Mediterranean, Cole took part in the Allied Invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943, acting with a British submarine as a beach identification group, and later guarded transports during the assault on Salerno on 9 September.

She returned to Charleston, South Carolina for overhaul on 24 December, after which she resumed convoy escort duty along the east coast and in the Caribbean, making one voyage to Casablanca in March 1944.

On 3 December 1944, she began duty as a plane guard for aircraft carriers conducting air operations out of Quonset Point, Rhode Island, which continued until 31 August 1945.