After a two and one-half month shakedown period, William H. Standley became flagship for Rear Admiral E. R. Bonner, Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Flotilla 6, during a "Springboard" exercise in the Caribbean Sea.

Subsequently, arriving at her first home port, Mayport, Florida, United States, on 14 July 1967, William H. Standley became the flagship for Commander, Destroyer Squadron (ComDes Ron) 8 the following week.

Following an underway period on the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Range and a visit to Frederiksted, U.S. Virgin Islands, William H. Standley prepared for her first deployment to the Mediterranean Sea.

While attached to the 6th Fleet, the ship witnessed the rapid build-up of Soviet naval strength in the Mediterranean basin and visited the ports of Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Valletta, Malta; Naples, Italy; and Souda Bay, Crete.

For the first three months of 1968, William H. Standley participated in a bilateral exercise with French naval units, "Phiblex 10-68," and conducted picket duty in the eastern Mediterranean, before she sailed for home late in March 1968.

Arriving back at her home port on the 28th, William H. Standley spent a month undergoing post-deployment upkeep, before she conducted planeguard duty for the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CVS-11) in May.

Soon thereafter, she responded to an emergency recall and got underway to search for the missing submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589), that had disappeared somewhere south of the Azores while en route back to the United States from a Mediterranean deployment.

William H. Standley entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard early in August for restricted availability and received alterations that would permit her to function as a PIRAZ (Positive Identification Radar and Advisory Zone) ship to conduct operations in the Gulf of Tonkin.

After sea trials and a final in-port period at Mayport, William H. Standley departed her home port on 2 December for her first deployment to the Western Pacific area.

After a brief stop at the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Range at Vieques, Puerto Rico, William H. Standley proceeded onward, transiting the Panama Canal for the first time on 9 December.

H. Standley subsequently departed Naval Station Pearl Harbor after the Yuletide holidays and reached Subic Bay, Philippines, early in January 1969 to receive new equipment and run sea trials.

During her month on station, the ship maximized the use of her communications systems and her tactical data collection facilities, contributing significantly to United States Seventh Fleet operations off the coast of Vietnam.

Upon leaving Guam, William H. Standley set course for Subic Bay and, after assisting a merchantman in distress, the Philippine freighter Santa Anna, reached her destination on 10 February.

Sailing via Sattahip, Thailand, Singapore, Victoria, Seychelles, Maputo, Mozambique, the Cape of Good Hope, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, William H. Standley reached Mayport on 18 August 1971, having circumnavigated the globe and steamed some 51,000 miles.

After her post-deployment in-port period, William H. Standley exercised in the Caribbean as flagship for Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla (CruDesFlot) 6 that autumn, conducting gunnery shoots, with both guns and missiles, at drone targets under wartime conditions.

Upon completion of that period of repairs and alterations, William H. Standley conducted missile firings on the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Range and trained at Guantanamo Bay for six weeks, breaking those underway evolutions with visits to San Juan and to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Reaching Rota, Spain, on 22 June, William H. Standley completed turnover procedures with USS Harry E. Yarnell (DLG-17) and then joined Task Force (TF) 60 at sea.

She visited the ports of Livorno, Italy; Cannes and Golfe-Juan, France; Athens and Corfu, Greece; Mersin and İzmir, Turkey; and Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, Málaga, and Naval Station Rota, Spain.

Departing Charleston on 14 June 1974, William H. Standley reached Rota on the 27th and, during the early part of her tour, visited the French ports of Saint-Tropez and Theoule, where the ship joined in celebrations commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Allied landings during World War II.

Highlighting that period were two events: the tow of the ocean escort USS Vreeland (DE-1068) when that ship developed serious boiler trouble on 4 October; and the surveillance of Soviet warships in the eastern Mediterranean.

Both ships are now artificial reefs in the Coral Sea, with William H. Standley resting at a depth of 4,526 metres (14,849 ft; 2,475 fathoms) at 24°47′S 155°48′E / 24.783°S 155.800°E / -24.783; 155.800, or roughly 100 nautical miles (185 km) east of Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia.