After shakedown along the East Coast and in the Caribbean, Herbert J. Thomas transited the Panama Canal and joined the Western Pacific Forces supporting the occupation of Japan and Korea at war's end.

After operations with the 7th Fleet out of Japan during most of 1946 and patrol duty in Korean waters, she sailed late November via Guam and Pearl Harbor, arriving San Diego on 21 December.

Returning to Korea on 25 January 1952 she joined Task Force 77 for a month and spent two weeks on the bombline performing vital gunfire support and screening duties.

From 4 April to 19 May she was assigned electronics countermeasure duties in addition to call fire missions on gun emplacements and radar stations, effectively checking the enemy.

During these tours she operated with the fast carrier task forces and had duty on the Taiwan Patrol, helping to stabilize the Chinese situation and protect vital American interests.

On 4 July 1959 the Herbert J. Thomas represented the United States Navy by firing a twenty-one-gun salute at the Alaska statehood ceremony in Sitka.

The ship deployed regularly to the Far East until 9 July 1963 when she entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California and remained in commission in reserve for a 12½-month modernization overhaul.

During the FRAM I conversion, the destroyer received an entirely new superstructure – designed to protect the ship against biological and chemical agents as well as radioactive fallout – and the Antisubmarine Rocket (RUR-5 ASROC) system.

Returning to full commission on 31 July 1965, Herbert J. Thomas completed her FRAM I conversion on 30 August (reverting to DD-833 on 1 April 1964) and operated along the West Coast until sailing for the Far East on 14 September 1966.

Arriving at "Yankee Station" off South Vietnam on 16 October, she joined CTG 77.7 in screening Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42) during strikes against communist targets ashore.

Following a short period of carrier escort duty on "Yankee Station" in mid-January, Herbert J. Thomas sailed for home on 5 February 1967 arriving in San Diego via Yokosuka on the 24th.

The Thomas was ordered to divert from Yokosuka and to join up with the US forces, including the carriers Enterprise, Yorktown, and Ticonderoga, which were assembling in the Sea of Japan.

The warship conducted shore bombardment missions off II and III Corps areas of responsibility in April and May as part of the Vietnamese counter-offensive after Tet, targeting enemy concentrations ashore.

Arriving in the Tonkin Gulf on 3 July, Herbert J. Thomas began three weeks of positive identification and radar advisory zone (PIRAZ) duty (air traffic coordination) as well as the occasional shore bombardment mission.

Following a port visit to Sasebo in early August, the warship conducted another three-week PIRAZ tour before putting in at Hong Kong on 15 September.