She was launched on 15 January 1919, sponsored by Mrs. Herbert H. Harris, and was commissioned at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, on 16 August 1920.

On 4 September, Thompson departed San Francisco for a shakedown training cruise which took her as far southward as Magdalena Bay in Baja California Sur.

On 10 December she departed San Diego and steamed to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, for regular overhaul.

Upon completion of this training on 1 July she departed Pearl Harbor with the Fleet, bound for a goodwill cruise to Australia and New Zealand.

In company with sister ships Kennedy, Decatur, and Farquhar, Thompson left Melbourne on 6 August and made port at Dunedin, New Zealand, four days later.