USS Bagley, name ship of a class of eight 1500-ton destroyers, was built at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia. She was commissioned in June 1937, and served for the next year in the Atlantic area and thereafter mainly in the Pacific. Bagley was at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard when the Japanese attacked that advanced fleet base on 7 December 1941, thus beginning World War II in the Pacific. During the first few months of the war, she was employed on escort duties, including working with the carrier task forces that raided enemy targets in the southern Pacific in February and March 1942.

In August 1942 Bagley took part in the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi and in the Battle of Savo Island. For the next year and a half, she primarily served in south Pacific area escort and patrol duties, but also participated in operations to capture Woodlark Island in mid-1943 and western New Britain in late 1943 and early 1944.

Following a west coast overhaul, Bagley operated with the fleet in the central and western Pacific, taking part in the Marianas operation in June-July 1944, including the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Palaus operation in September, the Leyte operation and Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, the Lingayen Gulf invasion in January 1945 and the campaigns to capture Iwo Jima and Okinawa in February-May. At the end of August 1945, she accepted the surrender of Japanese forces on Marcus Island. For the next few months, she participated in the occupation of Japan. After her return to the United States in November 1945, Bagley was prepared for inactivation. She decommissioned in June 1946 and was sold for scrapping in October 1947.

USS Bagley was named in honor of Ensign Worth Bagley (1874-1898), who was killed in action during the Spanish-American War.