6 January where Edwards claimed two of these aircraft. She then took up her fire support duties for UDT teams and with the landings, 9 January covered troops on the beachhead and fired at shore targets. She continued these assignments and convoy escort until 22 January, when she departed for Ulithi. Iwo Jima and Okinawa Iwo Jima was seen as a key base for B-29 operations against the mainland of Japan. Heywood L. Edwards participated in landing rehearsals 12–14 February 1945 and screened the fleet during the pre-invasion bombardment. During the landings on Iwo Jima she provided naval gunfire support from the 19–27 February, when she sailed for Saipan. Heywood L. Edwards returned to Ulithi and joined Task Force 54 (TF 54) for the invasion of Okinawa. TF 54 departed Ulithi on 21 March and after her arrival 4 days later Heywood L. Edwards covered the UDT teams' reconnaissance of Kerama Retto. On 27 March, in preparation for the main landings, she helped defend the fleet from kamikaze attacks. She covered the UDT landings on Okinawa on 30 March, shelled an airfield ashore that afternoon and on 1 April joined in the bombardment of the assault areas. During the next weeks of fighting ashore, naval forces effectively sealed off the island from any reinforcement and supported the troops with gunfire. Edwards and the other vessels fought off air attacks. When destroyer ran aground on a reef 18 May, Heywood L. Edwards knocked out shore batteries which had fired on the ship. She then continued performing fire support and radar picket duties off Okinawa until 28 July, when she sailed for Leyte Gulf. The destroyer departed Leyte on 2 August and after a time at Saipan and Eniwetok she got underway again on 29 August. Sailing toward Japan, Heywood L. Edwards covered the initial occupation of the Ominato area on 6 September 1945 and departed that port on 22 October for the United States, via Pearl Harbor. She arrived at Seattle on 10 November, decommissioned on 1 July 1946 and entered the Long Beach Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet. Service in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Heywood L. Edwards was brought out of reserve in 1959 and along with her sister ship was loaned to Japan under the Military Assistance Program. She served in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force as JDS Ariake (DD-183) until 1974. Ariake was broken up for scrap in