Assigned first to Destroyers, Scouting Force then to Destroyers, Battle Force, "Perkins" was homeported at San Diego, California and operated in the eastern Pacific prior to World War II. At Mare Island Naval Shipyard for overhaul, 7 December 1941, she reported for convoy escort duty on the 15th and on the 17th was en route to Pearl Harbor. By 15 January 1942 she was back at Mare Island for the installation of new radar equipment and on the 25th she returned to Hawaii.