"Fairfax" took part in the Presidential Review taken by Franklin D. Roosevelt in San Diego in March 1933, and then sailed for the East coast, where she continued her reserve training duty. She also patrolled in Cuban waters, and in the summers of 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, and 1940 sailed out of Annapolis training midshipmen of the Naval Academy. Between October 1935 and March 1937, she served with the Special Service Squadron out of Coco Solo and Balboa, Canal Zone, operating primarily on the Atlantic side of the Canal Zone.