"Shirk" departed San Diego on 6 February 1923 with the fleet and participated in combined exercises off Panama from 26 February to 31 March. Returning to San Diego on 11 April, she underwent overhaul at Mare Island from 9 July to 1 September and resumed operations at San Diego on 9 September. She sailed again with the fleet on 2 January 1924 and transited the Panama Canal on 19 January. Between 23 January and 3 February, she called at Veracruz, Mexico (where the cruiser had been wrecked on 16 January), and at Tampico, before rejoining the fleet at Culebra on 10 February. On 1 March, she departed the Canal Zone for Mare Island, where she was overhauled between 19 March and 7 May. Between 26 June and 12 July, she acted as plane guard for aircraft flying from San Diego to Seattle and rejoined the fleet in Puget Sound on 13 July. She returned to San Diego on 1 October.