With the outbreak of fighting in Korea in 1950, the Navy's need of fighting ships once again increased. "J. Douglas Blackwood", recommissioned on 5 February 1951, Lieutenant Commander J. R. McKee in command. Based at Norfolk, the ship alternated between duty there and the Fleet Sonar School at Key West, Florida. She also engaged in at sea training for midshipmen, cruising to the Caribbean and Brazil in the summer of 1953. She remained on this important training duty, not only keeping herself at peak readiness but also contributing to the development of new anti-submarine tactics, until arriving at Philadelphia on 15 November 1957. There she began her new assignment as Reserve Training Ship. "J. Douglas Blackwood" decommissioned on 1 August 1958, and was placed "in service." For the next three years, she acted as training ship for naval reservists in the Philadelphia area.