following the signing of the armistice on 11 november which ended all fighting, "balch" received orders to sail for home and she departed ireland on 16 november. she arrived at norfolk, virginia, via ponta delgada, azores, on 1 january 1919 and was placed in ordinary. returned to commission in early april, the destroyer sailed to the west indies for three weeks of maneuvers out of guantanamo bay, cuba. "balch" then returned to norfolk on 28 april for an overhaul. in july 1920, she was assigned the hull code of "dd-50" under the us navy's alphanumeric classification system. postwar funding shortages kept the destroyer in port until late 1921, when "balch" briefly cruised with the torpedo flotilla, atlantic fleet, before financial considerations led to her inactivation.