On 3 January 1925 Dobbin sailed for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by way of Newport, Rhode Island, and Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she loaded equipment and supplies for her mission as tender to Destroyer Squadron 14 of the Scouting Fleet.

After maneuvers at sea with the Scouting Fleet she arrived at San Diego on 9 March 1925 for four months of tender service along the west coast and at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

In July 1941 Commander Thomas C. Latimore, Dobbin's captain, disappeared while hiking the local Aiea Hills.

His body was never found and was the subject of much local news coverage and rumor before being overshadowed by the Pearl Harbor attack.

Dobbin was one of several Allied vessels located in Sydney Harbor during the Japanese midget submarine attack of 31 May 1942.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.