Destroyer Squadron One was present during the Attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. DESRON-1 destroyers served as part of Task Force 11 in the aborted relief efforts for Wake Island and Rabaul, as well as seeing action during the Battle of Coral Sea. DESRON-1 destroyers subsequently saw further action during the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons as part of Task Force 16. DESRON-1 destroyers subsequently provided shore bombardment as Fire-Support Group Love and anti-submarine/anti-aircraft support as Air Support Group 1 to the initial phase of the Guadalcanal campaign, and Destroyer Squadron One saw action during the Battle of the Komandorski Islands, the invasion of Attu, and the invasion of Kiska during the Aleutian Islands campaign. In September 1943, the squadron returned to the West Coast for overhaul.