"Kane" departed New York 17 August 1936 for Spain to evacuate American citizens whose lives were endangered by the civil war in Spain. On 30 August, en route to Bilbao, she had to open fire three times to drive off a tri-motored monoplane dropping bombs within a hundred yards of the destroyer. A strong protest to both Spanish Civil War factions was made, and this forestalled similar incidents. She called at Bilbao and Gijon, embarking refugees who were taken to St. Jean de Luz, France.