World War II

Gridley cleared Pearl Harbor 28 November 1941 as part of the antisubmarine screen for the aircraft carrier Enterprise, flagship of Admiral Halsey, and after a stop at Wake Island, reversed course for Pearl Harbor. The Task Force was approaching that base on the morning of 7 December when the message heralding the beginning of the war was received: "Air raid on Pearl Harbor, this is no drill." Gridley entered the harbor next day to help protect against renewed attack, and during the next five months was occupied escorting transports and repair vessels to and from Pearl Harbor and South Pacific ports. Her last such voyage was completed from 27 May 1942 and 5 June 1942 she arrived at Kodiak, Alaska, with the cruiser Nashville. In the Alaskan theater, Gridley escorted transports and patrolled the Japanese-held islands of Kiska and Attu, assisting in the bombardment of Kiska 7 August 1942. She acted during this period as flagship for famous destroyerman Comdr. Frederick Moosbrugger.

Departing Dutch Harbor 25 September 1942, Gridley joined the Saratoga task force in Hawaiian waters and later performed escort missions for both combatant and non-combatant ships in the Fijis and New Hebrides. In December 1942 she escorted oiler Cimarron out of Noumea to fueling rendezvous with the carrier task forces supporting the bitter fighting in the Solomons. Shifting her base of operations to Purvis Bay, in the Solomons, 13 July, Gridley guarded the high-speed transports which rescued survivors from the cruiser Helena in Parasco Bay 16 July 1943, and teamed with destroyer Maury to escort infantry landing craft from Guadalcanal for the landings on Tambatuni, New Georgia. She bombarded shore installations near the invasion beaches 25 July and screened the ships supporting the landing. In company with six other destroyers she destroyed Japanese landing barges in Vella Gulf 10 August, and screened Saratoga during air operations in the Solomons until 25 August.

Gridley returned to Pearl Harbor with escort carriers Suwanee and Long Island on 4 September 1943 and then departed for San Diego, where she remained for repairs 11 September to 26 October 1943. The Gilbert Islands were her next destination, and Gridley left Pearl Harbor once more 10 November 1943 for Makin Island. She assisted in the bombardment of that island, screened aircraft carriers, and then conducted independent patrol in the area until setting course for Hawaii 1 December.

1944

Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher's Carrier Task Force 58 departed Pearl Harbor 18 January 1944 for the offensive in the Marshall Islands, with Gridley again acting as screening ship for Saratoga. Gridley guarded the carrier during the strikes against Wotje and Eniwetok, and 8 March sailed for the New Hebrides with carriers Yorktown, Princeton, and Langley, assisting them in support of the developing New Guinea offensive. The destroyer sailed with the Hornet task force 7 June 1944 to take part in the invasion of the Marianas, where the carriers pounded Saipan, Rota, and Guam. In all these operations Gridley and her sister destroyers protected the carriers against air and submarine attack.

Gridley was with American forces in the pivotal Battle of the Philippine Sea 19 to 20 June 1944, when four waves of Japanese torpedo bombers and escorting fighters were decimated by fleet air and surface units. Gridley's antiaircraft fire helped to protect the aircraft carriers, with the result that Japanese air strength was virtually ended with this battle.

Gridley departed Eniwetok Atoll 30 June 1944 bound with the carriers for strikes on Iwo Jima, Guam, Yap, Ulithi, and the Volcano Islands. She supported directly the American landings on Peleliu 15 September 1944, shooting down at least one Japanese attack plane. After screening the carriers in attacks on Okinawa and Formosa, Gridley joined the American forces for the invasion of the Philippines. While protecting the large ships off Luzon 28 October 1944 she and destroyer Helm detected and sank the Japanese submarine I-51 with a series of devastating depth charge attacks. In the succeeding days, Gridley fought off Japanese kamikazes and returned to Ulithi with damaged carriers Franklin and Belleau Wood on 2 November.

1945

Gridley was soon at sea again, however, clearing Ulithi 5 November with the fast carrier task force for the Leyte operation. She later joined a group of escort carriers and served as a bombardment and patrol ship during the landings in Lingayen Gulf until 10 February 1945.

After stopping again at Ulithi, Gridley escorted battleship Mississippi en route to Pearl Harbor, and then sailed via San Diego and the Panama Canal for New York, where she arrived 30 March 1945. She entered the New York Navy Yard next day for much-needed repairs, and after finishing her overhaul departed the United States 22 June 1945. She served in Europe from July 1945 to January 1946.