Following shakedown off Boston, Richard E. Kraus reported to Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force, at Norfolk, Virginia.

In 1948 Richard E. Kraus assisted Mississippi (AG-128) in the development tests of the RIM-2 Terrier surface to air (SAM) missile.

Operating primarily in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean, Richard E. Kraus added merchant ship assistance and good will visits to East African ports to her destroyer duties.

Returning to Newport on 13 March 1965, Kraus conducted ASW exercises and was part of the Gemini 6 Recovery Force, serving on station off western Africa until that mission was canceled.

Deploying to WestPac in early 1966, Richard E. Kraus operated off Vietnam with Task Group 77.7 (TG 77.7) in the Tonkin Gulf, with TG 77.6 on "Yankee" and "Dixie" Stations, and provided gunfire support off South Vietnam until steaming home by way of the Suez Canal, arriving at Newport on 17 August 1966.

In November 1969 Kraus departed for the Indian Ocean, crossing the Equator 09 Nov stopping at Recife, Brazil before sailing across to Africa, she rounded the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Indian Ocean visiting Red Sea and Persian Gulf ports where she remained until returning to Charleston in April.

After stopping at Puerto Rico; Recife, Brazil; Luanda, Angola; and Lourenço Marques, Mozambique, she arrived at Majunga, Madagascar, on 30 October and was officially transferred to COMIDEASTFOR.

Stopping at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Rodman in the Panama Canal Zone; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and Midway Island, she made Yokosuka, Japan, on 29 November.

Naval Vessel Register the same day and officially transferred to the Republic of Korea through the Security Assistance Program on 23 February 1977.