combat zone. Steaming by way of Milne Bay, New Guinea, she arrived in Seeadler Harbor, Manus, on 1 September. The destroyer spent the first 10 days of September engaged in drills and upkeep at Manus. On the 11th, she got underway for Morotai and another uncontested landing. The warship spent only two days at Morotai before returning to Seeadler Harbor via Mios Woendi. Philippines, October–December 1944 Ammen remained at Manus from 29 September until 11 October. On the latter day, she put to sea on a circuitous voyage bound ultimately for the invasion of the Philippines at Leyte. That circuit took her first to the northern coast of New Guinea where-at Humboldt Bay-she became a unit of the screen of the invasion force flagship . The flagship group weighed anchor on 15 October and laid in a course for Leyte Gulf. The destroyer escorted the command ship into Leyte Gulf in the predawn darkness of 20 October. The preparatory shore bombardment began about 0700 and lasted until just before 0945. At that point the landing craft began their approach to the beaches. Assigned to protect the force flagship, Ammen took no part in the festivities but watched dutifully for the intrusion of enemy aircraft and submarines. For the first five days of the Leyte undertaking, she continued to provide antiair and antisubmarine coverage to Wasatch and escorted her out to sea during her nightly retirements from San Pedro Bay. Her duties with respect to the flagship kept Ammen out of both the surface actions launched by the Japanese to contest the invasion of Leyte. By the time she was detached to join TG 77.3 on the afternoon of 25 October to guard the eastern entrance to Leyte Gulf, the Japanese had shot their bolt. The forces that had tried to charge through Surigao Strait to the south received a shattering welcome from the battleships, cruisers, and destroyers under Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf, and the force that had sneaked through San Bernardino Strait went about to retrace its path in face of the desperate resistance put up off Samar by the escort carriers and, particularly, by the destroyers and destroyer escorts screening them. Though the major Japanese effort to disrupt the Leyte landings had been foiled, it was not immediately apparent. As a consequence, Ammen served with several defensive formations on an ad hoc basis. As already stated, she joined TG