She was commissioned 3 July 1958 and transited the Panama Canal a few months later to begin a long career with the Pacific Fleet. Between April and August 1959 "Hull" conducted the first of her fifteen deployments to serve with the Seventh Fleet in the Western Pacific. She made three more cruises in that area in 1960, 1961–1962 and 1963-1964. During October and November 1962 the destroyer escorted Pacific-based amphibious forces to the Panama Canal Zone as part of the US Navy's Cuban Missile Crisis operations. "Hull's" 1965 Seventh Fleet tour was the first of six Vietnam War deployments, during which she fired tens of thousands of five-inch shells in support of forces ashore and helped rescue several downed U.S. aviators. Additionally, "Hull" served as plane guard for carriers on Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf, participated in Operation Sea Dragon operations, and patrolled on search and rescue duties and carried out Naval Gunfire Support missions during the Vietnam War.