Following the announcement of the Japanese surrender on 15 August, the destroyer patrolled off the home islands until 27 August, when she joined the long line of ships entering Sagami Wan to receive the surrender of the Yokosuka Naval Base. After a brief trip to Iwo Jima to pick up several million yen of military currency for use in Japan, the destroyer took up station near the port bow of for the official surrender ceremony on 2 September. The warship remained in Japanese waters until 26 October when she sailed for home. "Benham" spent the next year at various ports on the west coast until finally decommissioning on 18 October 1946. She was assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego, California