Following shakedown in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea, Shark transited the Panama Canal and arrived at San Diego, California on 4 March 1937.

Following a regular overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, Shark got underway from San Diego on 16 December 1938 bound for Pearl Harbor and reassignment to SubRon 4.

For the next week, Shark patrolled Tayabas Bay until ordered back to Manila on 19 December to embark Admiral Thomas C. Hart, Commander-in-Chief, Asiatic Fleet, for transportation to Soerabaja, Java.

On 2 February 1942, Shark reported to her base at Soerabaja, Java, that she had been depth-charged 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) off Tifore Island and had failed to sink a Japanese ship during a torpedo attack.

On 7 February, she reported chasing an empty cargo ship headed northwest, for which the Asiatic Fleet submarine commander, Captain John E. Wilkes, upbraided Shane.