Truxtun joined that squadron in target practice off the Massachusetts coast before returning to Norfolk later that fall for repairs.

After repairs at Mare Island Navy Yard that summer, Truxtun joined her sister destroyers in a training voyage to Hawaii and Samoa.

She began her duty along the Pacific coast of North America with a voyage to Alaskan waters, visiting Seattle, Sitka, Seward, Skagway, and Juneau.

During the intervening period, she continued to be active with the Pacific Torpedo Fleet making cruises out of San Diego.

On 25 March 1912, the Pacific Reserve Fleet was established under the command of Rear Admiral Alfred Reynolds.

This organization was established in response to severe manpower shortages and was not similar in any respect to the contemporary reserve or "mothball" fleet.

For almost three months, she patrolled the Pacific coastal waters of Panama and Colombia, periodically doubling as a submarine tender.

Operating from that port, the destroyer convoyed merchant ships and conducted patrols against German U-boats for the remainder of World War I.

The first came on the night of 17 April 1918 when the explosives-laden steamship SS Florence H. exploded into flame in Quiberon Bay.

For steering his destroyer into the flaming seas surrounding the stricken munitions carrier and helping to rescue many of her crewmen, Truxtun's commanding officer, Lieutenant Ware, was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.

Departing Brest on 18 December in company with Flusser, Stewart, Whipple, and Worden, she steamed, via Ponta Delgada and Bermuda, back to the United States.

She was sold to Henry A. Hitner's Sons Company of Philadelphia on 3 January 1920 for conversion to mercantile service as a motor fruit carrier.