From 6 July to 24 August 1923, Parrott made visits to Greece, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Russia, meeting with civic officials and showing the flag.

During the following year (1924) she made similar visits to Bizerte, Tunis, Livorno, Genoa, Patmos, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Cagliari and Sardinia, returning to New York in July.

At this time revolution in China caused intense naval activity resulting in practically the entire Asiatic Fleet assembling in Chinese waters.

In Cavite Navy Yard, Parrott spent the first two months of 1941 having anti-mine and sound detection gear installed, after which, she trained with destroyers and submarines.

She assumed duties as off-shore sound patrol picket at the entrance to Manila Bay on 6 October, and late in November joined Task Force 5 at Tarakan, Borneo, Netherlands East Indies.

When the Philippines fell to the Japanese, the Asiatic Fleet moved south and operated under a unified American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDA) from a base at Surabaya, Java.

She then swept through the South China Sea with the combined ABDA force, fighting off three Japanese aerial attacks on 15 February, as the Allies attempted to intercept and prevent a landing on the east coast of Sumatra.

Contact was made with two Japanese destroyers and a transport just past midnight on 19/20 February, and in the ensuing fight, Piet Hein was sunk and Michishio heavily damaged.

Parrott returned to the States for repairs, left the yard in July and commenced the first of eight convoy escort voyages between San Francisco and Pearl Harbor.

While getting underway from Norfolk on 2 May, Parrott was rammed by John Morton while backing out of a slip, bending her hull, and was so severely damaged she had to be beached by tugs.