After her August 1915 commissioning, "Winslow" sailed off the east coast and in the Caribbean. She was one of seventeen destroyers sent out to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine off the Lightship Nantucket in October 1916. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, "Winslow" was sent overseas to patrol the Irish Sea out of Queenstown, Ireland. "Winslow" made several unsuccessful attacks on U-boats, and rescued survivors of several ships sunk by the German craft.