From their completion through mid-World War II, the four "Gridley"s formed Destroyer Division 11 of Destroyer Squadron 6. Based at Pearl Harbor in 1941, the squadron was at sea escorting on 7 December 1941, then was dispersed among carrier task forces during the Marshalls-Gilberts raids of early 1942. While "Gridley" and "McCall" were sent to the Aleutians in June, "Maury" was at the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway, and then went to Guadalcanal, where she participated in the Battle of Tassafaronga in November. "Craven" and "McCall" escorted convoys to Guadalcanal during this period. The four ships of the class were reunited to screen for the New Georgia landings in June 1943; then Maury was at the Battle of Kolombangara in July, and with "Craven" for the Battle of Vella Gulf in August. "Maury" then received a Presidential Unit Citation for the period 1 February 1942 to 6 August 1943. "Gridley" and "Maury" were at the &lt;a href="Battle%20of%20Tarawa"&gt;Gilbert Islands/Tarawa invasion&lt;/a&gt; in November of that year. All four destroyers operated together in the Marshalls and Marianas campaigns (including the Battle of the Philippine Sea) through mid-1944, and, less "Craven" (which went to the Atlantic), continued screening escort carriers off the Philippines (including the Battle of Leyte Gulf) and Formosa into 1945.