On this cruise, the ship paid goodwill visits to European and Mediterranean ports, assisted in the execution of the Austrian Armistice in October, and joined the American detachment in Turkish waters.

Hale then carried refugees, relief officials, and freight between the ports of Greece, Bulgaria, and Russia, showing the flag in the vital Mediterranean and Balkan area.

Hale recommissioned at San Diego on 30 September 1939, at a time of mounting crisis in both oceans, and departed on 25 November for Neutrality Patrol in the Caribbean.

Her base was changed to Galveston, Texas on 22 February 1940, and later to Key West, but the ship continued to patrol the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.

During her career in the British Navy, HMS Caldwell was assigned to escort duty in the Atlantic and later in the Caribbean, as Britain tried desperately to cope with the German U-boat menace.