"Litchfield" was laid down on 15 January 1919 by Mare Island Navy Yard. The vessel was launched on 12 August 1919, sponsored by Mrs. Martha D. Litchfield, the mother of Pharmacist's Mate Litchfield. The destroyer was commissioned on 12 May 1920, Lieutenant Commander J. F. McClain in command. "Litchfield", a flush-decker, sailed to Bremerton, Washington, on her shakedown cruise but her initial tour on the west coast was brief. Before the end of 1921 she had departed San Diego, California and arrived in Charleston, South Carolina. Following the annual fleet maneuvers, "Litchfield" steamed to Newport, Rhode Island, to join Division 39 for duty in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, arriving at Constantinople on 28 June 1922.