[1] After outfitting at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, Gridley made a goodwill visit to British Columbia and then conducted acceptance trials out of her homeport, Long Beach, California.

The new cruiser returned to Puget Sound Shipyard from 8 November to 9 December 1963, after which she joined the Pacific Fleet as "planned" flagship of Destroyer Squadron 19.

But for a brief visit to Subic Bay, she remained on station serving screening and picket duty, coordinating antiaircraft warfare efforts, and relaying communications.

Stopping at Pearl Harbor and Yokosuka en route, she steamed to the South China Sea to support aircraft carriers of the Seventh Fleet as the flattops attacked targets in Vietnam.

After varied duties in the fighting zone, she sailed for Australia en route to the West Coast and arrived Long Beach 8 June to prepare for future action.

On 20 November 1970, after being re-commissioned having received a major overhaul of radar, sonar and anti-air and anti-submarine warfare weapons systems making Gridley the first ship of her class to be outfitted with NTDS.

That year, she provided air traffic control and on-station support during "Operation Frequent Wind", the evacuation during the collapse of South Vietnam.

Gridley was in-port in Yokosuka, Japan when this event happened; by the next morning the entire USS Midway battle group was underway and stood off the coast of Korea for nearly a month.

In July 1987 Gridley was part of the USS Ranger battle group, conducting strikes against Iranian oil platforms during Operation Nimble Archer, returning to San Diego in January 1988.

While homeward bound, transiting the South China Sea, Gridley rescued Vietnamese refugees sighted in a small boat off of the coast of Vietnam.

Gridley's crew provided assistance to victims in San Francisco's severely damaged Marina district, and was awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal for disaster recovery efforts.

From February 1990 until March 1991, Gridley received the New Threat Upgrade at Southwest Marine Shipyard in San Diego, California.

During the US$55 million overhaul, all engineering, berthing and food service areas were upgraded, and the ship's combat systems were dramatically enhanced.

Gridley returned to San Diego in October 1992 and was overhauled at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company from January through April 1993.

That same month, the ship rendezvoused with USS Constellation in Acapulco, Mexico, escorting her back to San Diego, after the carrier's three-year Service Life Extension Program overhaul at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.