A unit of Mine Division 1, she was undergoing overhaul at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard on 7 December 1941, with future Rear Admiral George Stephen Morrison on board. At 07:53, Japanese planes flew over the base at low altitude and within minutes some of "Pruitt"s crew had sprinted to other ships and fired their first bullets. Others manned fire hoses and helped distribute ammunition during the attack on Pearl Harbor. At the end of January 1942, "Pruitt" completed overhaul and took up offshore patrol and minelaying duties with the Hawaiian Sea Frontier. Continuing operations there into June, she sailed, on the 19th, for Bremerton, Washington, from where she steamed to the Aleutian Islands for minelaying operations and escort assignments out of Kodiak. Into the fall she continued operations in the Aleutians, interrupted by regular runs back to the Hawaiian Islands, and then took up escort duties along the west coast.