Somers was laid down on 4 July 1918 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, San Francisco, California; launched on 28 December 1918; sponsored by Miss Anna Maxwell Jayne; and commissioned on 23 June 1920.

Somers arrived at San Diego, California on 20 July 1920, and five days later sailed for the Puget Sound area and summer exercises with the Battle Fleet.

Resuming active status in March 1922, Somers underwent overhaul at Puget Sound and returned to San Diego on 8 July for tactical, torpedo, and gunnery exercises.

On 1 July, the Battle Fleet, including Somers, departed Pearl Harbor for a goodwill cruise to the Southwest Pacific and visited Melbourne, Australia; Dunedin and Wellington, New Zealand; and American Samoa, before returning to San Diego on 26 September.

Somers and her squadron left Puget Sound on 20 August and sailed to Hawaii, searching for planes lost on a flight from the United States to Honolulu.

She returned to San Diego on 23 June and got underway six days later for summer exercises in Puget Sound including a reserve training cruise to Alaska from 7 to 21 July.