From September to November 1950, "Damato" had her first tour of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, and during the next year joined in hunter-killer operations in the South Atlantic. She was reclassified DDE-871 on 4 March 1951. She returned to the Mediterranean in the fall of 1951, the summers of 1952, 1953, and 1954. In both 1952 and 1953, she joined in autumn North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercises in the North Atlantic and during the summer of 1955 joined a Midshipman Training Cruise to Norway and Sweden.