On 27 February 1927, the "Noa" arrived at Nanjing, China, relieving USS "Simpson" as the ship stationed there "to protect American lives and property." On 24 March 1927, with her sister ship, USS "William B. Preston", and Royal Navy light cruiser HMS "Emerald", she helped to rescue foreigners from Nanjing. The three ships used their main batteries to lay down a barrage of shrapnel and high explosive on Socony Hill, driving back hostile Chinese forces and also halting sniping along the Nanjing Bund and a sortie by Kuomintang gunboats. This allowed refugees to retreat down the hill to the safety of U.S. and British warships. "Noa" also participated in the periodic fleet exercises which were intended to keep crew and equipment at peak efficiency.