Unit consisting of , , , and . Around 0215, Alden spotted one destroyer almost due east of her, followed by two or more a short time later. Emerging from the coastal waters to clear a reef, the Americans apparently came into the enemy's sight soon afterwards, since gunfire erupted from the Japanese ships within 15 minutes' time. A five-minute running gun duel ensued between the two groups of destroyers before Alden and her sister ships checked fire and laid smoke. At a range of about , the Japanese opened up again at 0250. The Americans, however, held their fire, reasoning that the enemy sought to force them into revealing their position by firing back. Continuing on at , the four "four-pipers" emerged from the encounter unscathed. As they neared their destination, Commander Thomas H. Binford, Commander, DesDiv 58, paired his ships, the ones with Australian charts (Alden and Paul Jones), with those which did not ( and John D. Edwards), and the destroyermen reached Fremantle on the afternoon of 4 March. Reporting to Commander, Australia-New Zealand area, on 28 March, Alden operated in the waters of the Southwest Pacific until sailing for Pearl Harbor, reaching her destination on 7 June en route to the United States West Coast. Following an overhaul at Mare Island, Alden commenced convoy escort duty between San Francisco and Hawaiian waters on 11 August. 1943 Over the next eight months, Alden carried out prosaic escort duty until she departed Mare Island on 9 April 1943 for the Caribbean. Transiting the Panama Canal on 16 April and reporting that day to Commander, Caribbean Sea Frontier, she continued on to Trinidad, arriving there on 25 April. The destroyer spent the next two months shuttling convoys between Trinidad and Guantanamo Bay, before she proceeded north to the New York Navy Yard, which she entered on 28 June for repairs and alterations. Upon completion of this availability, Alden sailed for Norfolk, Virginia on 11 July, and joined a Morocco-bound convoy soon afterwards, reaching Casablanca on 28 July. After returning to the United States via Gibraltar, the ship entered the Charleston Navy Yard for a drydocking on 27 August. She sailed for Port of Spain, Trinidad, on 7 September and ultimately proceeded to Brazilian waters, reaching Recife on 8 October. Underway for the Caribbean on 4 November, Alden reached Trinidad ten days later, and sailed on 26 November as escort