Lieutenant (junior grade) Finch shared posthumously in the Presidential Unit Citation awarded to the Laffey for its outstanding performance in action against the Japanese in the Southwest Pacific from 15 September until its loss.

[1] After the end of the war in the European theatre, Finch was transferred to the Pacific Fleet, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 12 July.

She participated in occupation duties, which included the evacuation of Allied prisoners of war in Korea[1] to Formosa during September 1945.

Finch entered drydock at Green Cove Springs, Florida, on 4 October 1946 but was not finally decommissioned until 6 March 1947.

Seattle was Finch's home port from 17 December 1956 through 10 September 1958, as she made regular patrols on seaborne radar early warning duty.

She arrived at Pearl Harbor 16 September 1958 for similar duty until 16 May 1960, then sailed for San Francisco, her home port for barrier operations through 1962.