after her march 1914 commissioning, she participated in a at new york city in may. after a period in reserve, "balch" served on neutrality patrol duty. as a part of that duty in october 1916, she was one of several us destroyers sent to rescue survivors from five victims of german submarine off the lightship nantucket. she picked up passengers and crew from a british ocean liner before the u-boat sank it. after the united states entered world war i in april 1917, "balch" was sent overseas to patrol the irish sea out of queenstown, ireland. "balch" made several unsuccessful attacks on u-boats. in october 1918, us destroyer collided with "balch", sending her into queenstown for two weeks of repairs.