First Operations
Agerholm was assigned to Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 12 and settled into a routine of local training operations in the waters off southern California. On 10 March, the warship sailed from San Diego on her first extended cruise to the western Pacific. While operating with the 7th Fleet, Agerholm visited the Chinese ports of Tsingtao, Shanghai, and Amoy, before they were closed to American traffic. She also visited Kwajalein, Okinawa, Hong Kong, and several ports in Japan. The destroyer returned to San Diego on 26 November and remained there for the holiday season.
Between January 1948 and June 1950, Agerholm alternated two WestPac deployments with operations out of San Diego. Upon her return to San Diego in June 1950, she commenced overhaul at Mare Island, California, while other ships steamed to Korea as part of the United Nations task force defending South Korea from the aggression of her northern counterpart. Completing her overhaul in late 1950, Agerholm trained for war and set a course for the Far East. She entered the combat zone on 19 February 1951 and was assigned to Task Force 77 as screening ship and plane guard. The destroyer also aided in shore bombardment, training her guns on Wonsan on 28 April and 1 May to 4 May, and on Kojo on 29 April. Agerholm returned to San Diego on 20 September for upkeep and local operations.
In May 1952, the warship left San Diego for her second tour with TF 77 in Korea. In addition to screening and planeguard duties, Agerholm conducted naval gunfire support as required. During one exchange of gunfire with a communist shore battery a single enemy shell struck the destroyer in the after part of the ship, starting a small fire in the crew's after berthing compartment but causing only minor damage to the weatherdeck. Agerholm continued on assigned duties until December, when she set a course for San Diego, arriving there on 21 December.
On 2 February 1953, the destroyer commenced another overhaul at Mare Island, followed by refresher training in May. After several months of preparation and fulfilling local training commitments, Agerholm got underway on 8 September for her sixth WestPac cruise. Although the Korean War had ended the 7th Fleet conducted various operations to ensure the continuation of peace in the Far East. Agerholm steamed many miles in support of the Formosa patrol, designed to deter both the Chinese Nationalists and the Chinese communists from invading each other, before she returned to her home port on 16 April.
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