Patrolling the Irish Sea out of Queenstown, Ireland, Tucker made several rescues of passengers and crew from ships sunk by U-boats.

In March 1926, Tucker was transferred to the United States Coast Guard to help enforce Prohibition as a part of the "Rum Patrol".

She operated under the name USCGC Tucker (CG-23) until 1933; during her Coast Guard service, she was the first American ship to arrive at the crash site of Navy airship Akron.

The General Board of the United States Navy had called for two anti-aircraft guns for the Tucker-class ships, as well as provisions for laying up to 36 floating mines.

USS Tucker was commissioned into the United States Navy on 11 April 1916 under the temporary command of Lieutenant, junior grade, Frank Slingluff, Jr.

Following her commissioning, Tucker commenced trials off the east coast before reporting to Division 8, Destroyer Force, United States Atlantic Fleet.

With World War I ongoing in Europe, Tucker and units of the Fleet conducted exercises and maneuvers in southern and Cuban waters into the spring of 1917.

Tucker joined the fleet at its anchorage in the York River before being ordered to proceed to the Boston Navy Yard, for fitting-out for war.

The American destroyer soon arrived on the scene and helped to save the survivors of the stricken French warship from the waters of the Bay of Biscay.

Tucker's efforts, and those of the five other American destroyers who were also present, were rewarded by a commendation from the Préfet Maritime, on behalf of the French Ministry of Marine.

[1] While American forces withdrew from Europe and headed home to the United States, Tucker carried passengers and mail between French and British ports.

The Treasury Department eventually determined that the United States Coast Guard simply did not have the ships to constitute a successful patrol.

To cope with the problem, President Calvin Coolidge in 1924 authorized the transfer from the Navy to the Coast Guard of twenty old destroyers that were in reserve and out of commission.

[1] The Navy airship Akron crashed in a storm killing 73 men, including Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics.

[1] After the United States Congress proposed the Twenty-first Amendment to end prohibition in February 1933, plans were made for Tucker to be returned to the Navy.