Based at Long Beach, California, she formed part of an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) task group built around USS Hornet.

After stops at Pearl Harbor and Apra, Guam, she stood air-sea rescue duty near the Marianas for President Dwight D. Eisenhower's flight to visit several Asian nations.

Turner Joy crossed the president's path once more in July 1960, when the Chinese used the latter's visit to Taiwan as a pretext for shelling the islands of Quemoy and Matsu, once again.

After a final series of drills conducted with USS Bon Homme Richard, the destroyer completed that tour of duty at Yokosuka, Japan, early in December.

A sailor in the Gun Director on the USS Maddox, Patrick Park, reviewed radar and sonar records for the next three days after the incident on orders from his superiors.

On 23 September, she moved into the Gulf of Thailand near the west coast of South Vietnam to participate in one of the earliest naval gunfire support missions conducted along that section of the coastline.

After a brief respite in Subic Bay for upkeep, the warship returned to the "gunline" in October, this time along South Vietnam's southeastern coast between Cape St. Jacques and Chu Lai.

After a week of repairs, the destroyer departed Subic Bay in company with Ticonderoga for screening duty in the South China Sea, followed by port calls at Hong Kong and at Yokosuka, Japan.

From the completion of her overhaul in March through the end of May, the destroyer remained in Long Beach engaged in upkeep, repairs, and in training the numerous replacements who had reported on board.

At that time, she returned to sea to participate in fleet exercise "Baseline II," after which she proceeded to Long Beach for a series of repairs in preparation for another tour of duty in the western Pacific.

Turner Joy stood out of Long Beach on 18 November and—after visits to Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guam—entered port at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 11 December.

Turner Joy's fourth deployment to the western Pacific brought her three tours of duty off the coast of Vietnam and concluded with a visit to Australia.

After two weeks of availability at Subic Bay and a five-day liberty visit to Hong Kong, Turner Joy returned to the Vietnamese coast on 10 February.

Instead of supporting American and South Vietnamese troops directly through shore bombardments, she did so by interdicting enemy logistical efforts in Operation Sea Dragon.

Shrapnel from near misses wounded a member of Turner Joy's repair party and peppered her bow while the air burst above the forward mast put her air-search radar out of service except for its IFF aspect.

Two days later, the destroyer arrived in Subic Bay, and she entered drydock, soon thereafter, for repairs to her strut bearing, the bow, the peak tank, and her air search radar antenna.

Concurrently with this yard work, she conducted a tender availability with USS Piedmont to prepare her for visits to Australia and New Zealand during the forthcoming celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea.

That duty continued until late February 1968 when she entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for a restricted availability in preparation for her fifth deployment to the Far East.

Retracing her outward-bound voyage with stops at Guam, Midway, and Pearl Harbor, Turner Joy entered Long Beach on 26 September.

She completed those operations during the latter half of May; and, after a. brief availability alongside USS Bryce Canyon, she embarked NROTC midshipmen on 5 June for the two-month 1969 summer training cruise.

At the end of the cruise, Turner Joy debarked the midshipmen on 1 August and resumed training in the southern California operating area.

After a five-day availability alongside USS Prairie, the destroyer stood out of Subic Bay bound for Danang, South Vietnam, and gunfire support duty off the coast of the I Corps zone.

After a liberty call in Hong Kong, Turner Joy returned to the Vietnamese coast and resumed gunfire support missions until early April.

Early in December, Turner Joy reentered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard to be readied for her redeployment to the western Pacific.

Following a five-day gunfire exercise at the Tabones range, she departed the Philippines to make liberty visits to Bangkok, Thailand, and Hong Kong.

Over the ensuing six months, she received entirely new 5 inch 54-caliber gun mounts; and her propulsion plant underwent conversion to enable it to burn Navy distillate fuel.

[11] "USS Turner Joy fired the final round of naval gunfire of the war, hitting the beach at 000 GMT, 28 January 1973, scant seconds before the ceasefire went into effect".

During that operation, she joined units of the British, Iranian, and Pakistani navies in practicing a broad spectrum of naval tactics—ASW, AAW, surface engagements, gunnery drills, and missile shoots.

As a result of long years of service in Vietnam and two delays in a scheduled overhaul, however, Turner Joy was unable to successfully complete her Operational Propulsion Plant Examination.

In 1982, as the new Spruance-class destroyers joined the fleet, the Navy announced the retirement of Turner Joy and her sister ships saying, "...the cost of modernizing them is far greater than the benefits that could be derived from continued service."