Naval Reserve training duty along the east coast. Arriving at Philadelphia Navy Yard 29 September 1936, Du Pont was placed out of commission 14 January 1937. World War II With the outbreak of war in Europe, Du Pont was recommissioned 16 October 1939 for duty on the Neutrality Patrol. She patrolled along the east coast, trained reservists, and spent several periods training with submarines out of New London. Between 7 July 1941 and 26 February 1942, she escorted five vital convoys to NS Argentia, Newfoundland, and Iceland, continuing escort and antisubmarine patrol duty in the Atlantic as far north as Argentia and south to the Caribbean. Du Pont, 15 March 1942, rescued 30 survivors from a torpedoed merchantman. From 8 May 1942 to 19 January 1943, she guarded convoys from New York and Norfolk to Key West and Guantanamo Bay. After overhaul, Du Pont returned to the Caribbean to escort tanker convoys between Aruba, Netherlands West Indies, and Guantanamo Bay until 17 May 1943 when she sailed from Aruba to the Mediterranean. She arrived at Algiers, Algeria, 1 June, and put into Casablanca 5 days later. The destroyer sailed on 9 June for New York in the escort for , rescuing four men from downed aircraft during hunter-killer operations en route. She arrived at New York 6 July. Between 17 July and 12 September 1943, Du Pont made two voyages to the United Kingdom on convoy escort duty. On 25 September, she sailed from Norfolk for an antisubmarine patrol with a hunter-killer group centered on Card. On 6 October she joined the screen for during exercises in Casco Bay and Long Island Sound. The group sailed from Norfolk 14 November to give close support to a Gibraltar-bound convoy. On the return passage one of Bogues planes sighted and bombed surfaced , 12 December. Du Pont and continued the attack, driving the submarine to the surface on the morning of the following day. The destroyers opened fire and after the submarine's conning tower exploded, rescued 46 survivors including the captain as U-172 sank in . Du Pont shared in the Presidential Unit Citation awarded the Bogue task group for distinguished success in operations against submarines. Du Pont escorted a convoy to Gibraltar and back to Boston between 25 January and 9 March 1944, and then returned to escort duty in the Caribbean. She left Norfolk 11 June in the screen of