She carried garrison forces for the defense of Iceland and performed neutrality patrol in waters of the West Indies until the infamous raid on Pearl Harbor.

She shot down an enemy plane 8 August and frequently repelled air attacks as she shuttled desperately needed supplies and troops into Guadalcanal from the New Hebrides, New Caledonia and ports of Australia.

She returned nearly 500 wounded veterans of the campaign for Attu to San Francisco, California, 6 June, then put to sea with occupation troops landed to occupy Kiska 15 August 1943.

Heywood returned to Wellington, New Zealand, 1 October 1943 to train and embark fighting men landed in amphibious assault on bloody Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands 20 November.

Heywood received seven battle stars for service in World War II: This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.