Saufley was laid down on 27 January 1942 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, New Jersey; launched on 19 July 1942; sponsored by Saufley's widow, Mrs Helen (O’Rear) Scruggs (daughter of Judge Edward C. O’Rear of Frankfort, Kentucky),[1] commissioned 29 August 1942.

Following shakedown off northern New England, Saufley made several coastal escort runs and then prepared for duty in the South Pacific.

Initially assigned to escort reinforcements from Espiritu Santo to Lunga Point, Saufley soon undertook anti-shipping sweeps in the waters north and west of Guadalcanal and conducted shore bombardment missions against enemy positions on the island.

In March, Saufley resumed escort and antisubmarine duties in the southern Solomons-New Caledonia-New Hebrides area.

July and August found Saufley engaged in assault operations against New Georgia and escort missions to the New Hebrides and Vella Lavella.

At 10:11 on 15 September, while Saufley was en route to Espiritu Santo in company with Montgomery and two merchantmen, a torpedo wake was sighted.

As Montgomery's sound gear was inoperative, Saufley initiated a search down the track of the torpedo wake.

She sank four barges during this period but sustained damage from Japanese aerial bombs on the night of 1 October which resulted in the death of two and the wounding of 11 crew members.

The months of November and December 1943 and January 1944 found Saufley performing escort duties for the reinforcement of Bougainville.

In February, Saufley was engaged in the assault on the Green Islands which broke the Japanese Rabaul-Buka supply line and provided the Allies with another airfield near Rabaul.

Following escort duties to the Admiralties, Saufley returned to Purvis Bay on 18 April whence she conducted exercises with TF 38 into May.

Arriving on 12 May, she sailed west again on 1 June as a unit of Task Group 51.18 (TG 51.18), the reserve force for Operation Forager, the conquest of the Marianas.

Proceeding to Leyte Gulf, Saufley soon found herself engaged in antisubmarine action after moving into the Camotes Sea to search for a submarine reported to be in the area.

Shortly after entering the area on 28 November, Japanese Type C2 submarine I-46[2] was located on the surface off Pilar Point, Ponson Island.

[2]: 567 Returning to Leyte Gulf, Saufley lost one man and suffered considerable hull damage in an engagement with a kamikaze attack on 29 November.

For the next twelve years, was primarily engaged in testing and evaluating sonar equipment and antisubmarine warfare weapons, along with their effects on shipboard habitability.

[1] Archived 2016-01-26 at the Wayback Machine For the next two years, Saufley continued her experimental projects, interrupting those operations only for scheduled exercises, sonar school ship duties; and, in the spring of 1963, assistance in the search for the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Thresher.

In 1967, instruments and gauges to register strain and stress of successive explosions were installed, and, on 20 February 1968, as a result of tests, she was sunk off Key West at 24°26.942′N 81°34.974′W / 24.449033°N 81.582900°W / 24.449033; -81.582900.