below the maximum speed of . The raked clipper bow had done well in keeping green water off the forward six-inch gun turret, even in the very rough sea conditions that had been encountered. In addition to damage to the hull plates, there were issues with Eries radio direction finder which were dealt with in early 1937, as Erie prepared for standardization trials. Training service at Annapolis The ship was then assigned duties at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Erie would be the lead vessel for the Coastal Cruising Detachment taking members of the Academy's second (junior) class on cruises to North Atlantic ports throughout the summer. From 7 May to 25 October 1937, Erie trained midshipmen, operating out of the Naval Academy, on afternoon training cruises during academic months then on an east coast cruise during June, July, and August. On 11 May, while returning from a drill, Erie rammed the Santee dock while being berthed. The crash put a foot-deep indentation in her clipper bow that would necessitate repair before she could leave on a June cruise with the Coastal Cruising Detachment. To celebrate the friendship visit of Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan in 1853, the Naval Academy hosted Japanese officials at a colorful re-enactment pageant on the Severn River and the Dewey Basin on 29 May. Erie, along with the destroyers and , illuminated the festivities with their searchlights. They, and a number of sub chasers and small patrol boats, also paraded around the basin after a fireworks display that was viewed by 10,000 spectators. Panama Canal service On 24 January 1938, with an overhaul finished, Erie got underway for the homeport of SPERON, Balboa in the Panama Canal Zone, with a first stop at the Naval Operating Base at Norfolk to turn in aviation equipment and spares, and to take ammunition aboard. The ship set sail for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on 26 January, and arrived at Cristóbal on 3 February 1938. Erie immediately transited the Panama Canal, for the first time, berthed at Balboa, the Canal's Pacific terminus, and reported for duty with SPERON. Balboa would be Eries homeport until being transferred to the Offshore Patrol-Atlantic of the Panama Sea Frontier, and subsequently, to the Caribbean Sea Frontier Task Force in 1942. On 21 February, the SOC-2 "Seagull" biplane scouts were removed from Erie and Charleston, and the aviation units decommissioned. Admiral William Leahy, Chief of