Neutrality Patrol
Soon after Nazi aggression began the Second World War in Europe, "King" recommissioned 26 September 1939, Lieutenant Commander E. E. Berthold in command. The destroyer cleared San Diego 13 November to join the Caribbean Neutrality Patrol. Following arrival at Norfolk, Virginia 22 February 1940, the destroyer operated along the East Coast on Neutrality Patrol out of Boston, Massachusetts and Key West, before returning to the West Coast during the fall. She continued patrol and maneuvers out of San Francisco, California, operating in that area at the outbreak of hostilities with Japan.