As the members of the class entered service, they initially operated in the Atlantic, and New Mexico escorted President Woodrow Wilson across the Atlantic to the Versailles Peace Conference that ended World War I. As the US Navy reorganized its fleet to emphasize a focus on affairs in Asia and the Pacific, the ships were reassigned to the Pacific Fleet in 1919, with New Mexico serving as the fleet flagship.
Throughout this period, the fleet was based in San Pedro, California, but it frequently operated in Hawaiian waters, off the coast of Central and South America, and in the Caribbean Sea.
In 1925, the Pacific Fleet embarked on a major cruise to visit Australia and New Zealand.

Beginning in 1923, the US Navy began a series of major exercises with Fleet Problem I, during which Mississippi sank the old battleship Iowa, which had by then been converted into a target ship; Mississippi used aircraft to spot her shots at long range, the first time this had been done in the US Navy.
The fleet problems were typically held once a year, and they provided the basis for the US Navy's operations in the Pacific War.
Experience in the exercises that demonstrated that the standard type battleships were too slow to operate with aircraft carriers led to the development of the fast battleships built in the 1930s.
Joint training with the Marine Corps provided experience that proved to be useful during the island-hopping campaign during the Pacific War.
In 1937, the ships took part in training exercises in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to experiment with sub-arctic operations.

In mid-1940, the Battle Fleet was transferred from California to Hawaii in response to rising tensions between the United States and Japan over the latter's aggression in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
By 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the Neutrality Patrols to protect American shipping caught in the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II.
All three New-Mexico-class ships were transferred from the Pacific to the Atlantic Fleet to reinforce the patrols in May that year.
During this period, the ships escorted convoys between the United States and Iceland, though they saw no action with German U-boats that were waging an unrestricted submarine warfare campaign against merchant shipping in the North Atlantic.
As the members of the class entered service, they initially operated in the Atlantic, and New Mexico escorted President Woodrow Wilson across the Atlantic to the Versailles Peace Conference that ended World War I. As the US Navy reorganized its fleet to emphasize a focus on affairs in Asia and the Pacific, the ships were reassigned to the Pacific Fleet in 1919, with New Mexico serving as the fleet flagship. Throughout this period, the fleet was based in San Pedro, California, but it frequently operated in Hawaiian waters, off the coast of Central and South America, and in the Caribbean Sea. In 1925, the Pacific Fleet embarked on a major cruise to visit Australia and New Zealand.
Beginning in 1923, the US Navy began a series of major exercises with Fleet Problem I, during which Mississippi sank the old battleship Iowa, which had by then been converted into a target ship; Mississippi used aircraft to spot her shots at long range, the first time this had been done in the US Navy. The fleet problems were typically held once a year, and they provided the basis for the US Navy's operations in the Pacific War. Experience in the exercises that demonstrated that the standard type battleships were too slow to operate with aircraft carriers led to the development of the fast battleships built in the 1930s. Joint training with the Marine Corps provided experience that proved to be useful during the island-hopping campaign during the Pacific War. In 1937, the ships took part in training exercises in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to experiment with sub-arctic operations.
In mid-1940, the Battle Fleet was transferred from California to Hawaii in response to rising tensions between the United States and Japan over the latter's aggression in the Second Sino-Japanese War. By 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the Neutrality Patrols to protect American shipping caught in the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II. All three New-Mexico-class ships were transferred from the Pacific to the Atlantic Fleet to reinforce the patrols in May that year. During this period, the ships escorted convoys between the United States and Iceland, though they saw no action with German U-boats that were waging an unrestricted submarine warfare campaign against merchant shipping in the North Atlantic.
New Mexico-class battleship