arrived Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands, 2 October 1944, and 12 days later departed as an escort unit for the large group of transports carrying invasion forces. They arrived off Leyte 20 October and Haraden began a long and grueling job of covering the transports during and after the main assault. Japanese airplanes began almost continuous raids on the landing group the afternoon of 20 October, with Haraden acting as part of the antiaircraft screen, protecting the transports with her gunfire. The afternoon of 26 October Haraden formed with an escort carrier group in Leyte Gulf and steamed for Manus, arriving Seeadler Harbor 1 November 1944. Remaining there until 12 November, the ships sailed to Palau, arriving on 18 November, and from there provided air support to convoys bound to and from the Philippines until 28 November. The carrier force, with Haraden in the screen, departed 10 December for the Sulu Sea, en route to the invasion of Mindoro. Haraden and the escort carriers entered the Sulu Sea 13 December, and were attacked that day by four Japanese aircraft. Haraden assisted in downing three of the raiders, but the fourth banked left and dived for the destroyer. Trailing smoke from hits by Haradens gunners, she crashed into the destroyer's side, putting her forward engine room out of commission and severely damaging her topside. As Haraden lay dead in the water, the destroyer came alongside to help and the Haraden was soon underway on her own power. She arrived at San Pedro Bay 14 December 1944 and transferred her casualties—14 killed and 24 wounded. Steaming on toward the United States via Hawaii, she arrived at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington on 14 January 1945 for battle repairs. Repairs and training completed, Haraden departed again for the Pacific 19 April from San Francisco, arriving Pearl Harbor 25 April. She performed escort duties for amphibious convoys in the Western Pacific until 6 July, when she commenced a series of training exercises off Subic Bay, Philippine Islands. Haraden next participated in the operations off the China coast following the surrender of Japan. She got underway 28 August with units of the 7th Fleet and made a show of force at Tsingtao and along the China coast to help stabilize the tense situation there. She arrived at Jinsen, Korea, 8 September and after another voyage down the coast of China and back, departed Jinsen