Dale made a southern cruise from 13 February to 6 March 1936, visiting Norfolk, Dry Tortugas, Florida and Galveston, Texas and acting as escort for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s cruise in the Bahamas before departing for the west coast. She took part in fleet problems, made a good will visit to Callao, Peru, served as training ship for the gunnery school at San Diego, and cruised to Hawaii, Alaska and the Caribbean on exercises.
On 5 October 1939, Dale departed San Diego to join the Hawaiian Detachment for training and patrol. She was moored at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked 7 December 1941. The duty officer (an ensign) got her underway immediately to establish a patrol off the harbor entrance. She opened fire on the enemy planes, splashing at least one.
From 14 December 1941 to 17 March 1942 Dale screened Lexington (CV-2) and Yorktown (CV-5), covering the strikes on the Salamaua-Lae area of New Guinea on 10 March. Dale returned to Pearl Harbor on escort and training duty until 11 May when she departed for Mare Island and an overhaul. On 6 June, she sailed from San Francisco, with others, to back up the task forces engaged in the Battle of Midway from 6 July to 17 August. She was assigned to convoy duty between Viti Levu, Fijis, and Éfaté and Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, in preparation for the assault on Guadalcanal. She covered the landings, escorted transports loaded with reinforcements to the bitterly contested island from 18 August to 21 September, and then sailed to Pearl Harbor for escort and training duty until 10 November. She sailed to screen battleships Washington (BB-56) and South Dakota (BB-57) into Pearl Harbor, continuing with South Dakota to San Francisco.
On 9 January 1943, Dale sailed from San Francisco for duty in Aleutian waters. She supported the occupation of Amchitka between 23 January and 19 March, patrolling and repelling attacks by the Japanese. On 22 March, her group sailed to patrol west of Attu to intercept and destroy enemy shipping bound for Attu or Kiska. Four days later the group engaged a numerically superior Japanese force screening reinforcements to Attu. In the resulting Battle of the Komandorski Islands, at one time or another Dale took all of the Japanese cruisers under fire as well as screening the damaged Salt Lake City (CA-25). The Japanese reinforcements failed to reach Attu. She screened transports and fire support ships into Attu for the assault on 11 May, and then patrolled off Attu until 1 August. She joined in the pre-invasion bombardment of Kiska 2 August, and then screened the transports that landed men there 13 August. She joined Kane (DD-236) for a reconnaissance of Rat and Buldir Islands 22 August, finding no Japanese present.
Sailing from Adak 5 September 1943, Dale arrived at Pearl Harbor 16 September to screen the group, which on 8 October fueled carriers returning from a 2-day air strike on Wake. Dale trained at Pearl Harbor until 5 November. She escorted a group of LSTs to the landings on Makin of 20 November, and then sailed for the west coast.
Dale got underway from San Diego 13 January 1944 to screen carriers during the assaults on Kwajalein and Eniwetok. She served in the Marshalls on escort and patrol until 22 March, then screened TF 58 during air attacks on Palau, Yap, Ulithi and Woleai between 30 March and 1 April raids supporting the Hollandia operations from 21 to 24 April; and strikes on Truk, Satawan and Ponape from 20 April to 1 May.
From 6 June to 30 July, Dale served in the capture of the Marianas, bombarding Saipan and Guam, screening carriers during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and supporting underwater demolition teams. Overhauled at Bremerton Navy Yard from August to October, Dale returned to Pearl Harbor for training, and then sailed to Ulithi to join the logistics group serving TF 38. She screened this group during refueling operations in support of the Philippines invasion between 25 November and 8 December, and while it refueled TF 38 in the South China Sea during its raids on the Chinese coast, Formosa, Luzon, and Okinawa. She remained with the group during the daring carrier strikes on Tokyo and Kobe that prepared for the assault on Iwo Jima, and the strikes accompanying the invasion.
Dale cruised with the logistics group on five voyages between Ulithi and the Okinawa area between 13 March 1945 and 11 June when she sailed for Leyte to join a carrier division’s screen. From 26 June to 3 July, her force launched strikes in the seizure and occupation of Balikpapan, Borneo. Dale returned to Leyte to escort a convoy to Ulithi, patrolled there until 29 July and then escorted a convoy to Okinawa.
Anchored at Guam when the war ended, Dale convoyed two ships to a rendezvous on 19 August off Japan, and then sailed homeward, arriving at San Diego 7 September. Four days later, she was underway for the east coast. Arriving at New York 25 September, Dale was decommissioned 16 October 1945 and sold 20 December 1946.
Dale received 12 battle stars for World War 11 service.
Source: Naval Historical Center including Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
