She was laid down on 15 September 1941 at the Charleston Navy Yard; launched on 2 May 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth Stanley Boss; and commissioned on 15 October 1942.

After entering Pearl Harbor on 22 March, Stanly operated out of that naval base until May, hunting submarines, participating in drills, and screening convoys on the last leg of their voyages to Oahu.

On 28 August, she stopped at Tulagi; then, steamed on to patrol the entrance to Kula Gulf, between Kolombangara and New Georgia, and returned the next day to Port Purvis on Florida Island.

During the following evening and night, Stanly fought off an attack by Japanese motor torpedo boats while the task force pounded Buka Island.

Later that night, Stanly joined the rest of the task force in shelling the Shortlands, located just off the southern tip of Bougainville, in support of the landings farther north at Empress Augusta Bay.

Late on 1 November, TF 39 sighted an enemy surface force, but was unable to engage it until early the next morning when it sallied forth to harass the landing area at Empress Augusta Bay.

Radar contact was made at 02:30 on 2 November; and Stanly, along with the other three destroyers in the van, opened the battle with a torpedo attack.

Arleigh Burke's "Little Beavers", Stanly included, contributed by finishing off the destroyer Hatsukaze and by showering a hail of 5 inch shells on the enemy.

She feinted toward Espiritu Santo; then, under the cover of darkness, turned north and headed for Green Island, where she supported the landings on 14 and 15 February.

For the next month, Stanly continued to operate with TF 39, conducting antishipping sweeps of the Kavieng-Rabaul sea lanes and bombarding various enemy positions in the Bismarcks.

On 24 March, Stanly exited Purvis Bay and, by the 30th, was cruising in the screen of Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher's Fast Carrier Task Force (then-called TF 58) as it launched planes against the Palau Islands.

From 3 to 8 June, in company with Indianapolis (CA-35), the destroyer made the circuit from Majuro to Kwajalein to Eniwetok, leaving the latter atoll on the 8th to rejoin TF 58.

The Fast Carrier Task Force, with Stanly in its screen, opened the air assault on the Marianas on 11 June, sending sorties to bomb and strafe Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan.

On the 18th, the task group rejoined TF 58 just in time to witness the Battle of the Philippine Sea, in which the United States Navy broke Japanese naval airpower.

On 20 June, Stanly participated in the bombardment of Guam and Rota and, two days later, moved off to defend and support the American forces on Saipan.

Until the 27th, she patrolled the transport areas and stood radar picket duty for the assault forces while the Japanese launched the first major kamikaze onslaught of the war.

In the meantime, Stanly's fighter director team took charge of the stricken destroyer's combat air patrol.

Under their direction, the friendly fighters whittled away at the attackers, splashing six Aichi D3A "Val" naval dive bombers in rapid succession.

Suddenly, out of the maelstrom of planes, a rocket-powered Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka piloted flying bomb plunged toward her at a speed in excess of 500 knots (900 km/h).

[1] Her assailant's great speed made countermeasures impossible; and so, Stanly absorbed the kamikaze's impact on the starboard side of her bow, five feet above the waterline.

The warhead punched clear through the hull of Stanly without detonating, passed out her port side, and exploded in the water close aboard.

On the 20th, Stanly weighed anchor, stopped at Eniwetok and at Pearl Harbor, and entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard on the 30th.

Stanly earned nine battle stars for her World War II service, and the Presidential Unit Citation (US) as part of DesRon 23 the "Little Beavers", for its "extraordinary heroism in action against enemy Japanese forces during the Solomon Islands Campaign, from 1 November 1943, to 23 February 1944"—the only destroyer squadron so honored.