"Simpson" conducted training exercises with the Pacific Fleet during her first year of service, including a cruise to Valparaíso, Chile. She then transited the Panama Canal on 12 December 1921, and after overhaul at Philadelphia, she sailed from Newport, Rhode Island, for the Mediterranean on 6 June 1922. Between 29 June 1922 and 26 February 1924, "Simpson" served as a unit of the United States Naval Detachment in Turkish waters under Rear Admiral Mark L. Bristol, protecting American interests during the unrest in the Near East following World War I. "Simpson" was involved in protecting United States citizens, and aiding the work of the American Relief Association in the Black Sea and rescued mainly hundreds of Americans after the great fire of Smyrna on 13 September 1922. After a tour of ports in the western Mediterranean and the English Channel, "Simpson" departed Southampton, England, on 1 July 1924 for overhaul at Norfolk, Virginia. She then underwent training in the Caribbean and on the United States West Coast before crossing the Pacific for duty with the Asiatic Fleet.