"South Carolina" then took part in training exercises off Culebra Island. On 28 January, the ship sent a contingent of Marines ashore in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to secure the American embassy during a period of unrest in the country, as well as to set up a radio station there. She left the city on 14 April after tensions calmed following the election of President Oreste Zamor. "South Carolina" coaled at Key West before continuing on to Veracruz, where she took part in the occupation of the city. The ship left Veracruz in July and spent the next several months cruising off the Dominican Republic and Haiti to monitor the political situations in the neighboring countries. She returned to Norfolk on 24 September; by this time, World War I had broken out in Europe, though the United States initially remained neutral.