25th. On the last day of January, the destroyer sortied with TF 11, formed around Lexington, and performed plane-guard duties for that carrier as she moved southwestward toward New Guinea. After accidentally firing a live torpedo in Hull'''s direction during surface attack maneuvers on 13 February, Aylwin warned her sister ship by blinker, enabling the latter to sheer away out of danger. Aylwin followed the errant "fish" at 28 knots until it sank at the end of a normal run. Three days later, the ANZAC command cruiser force— , HMNZS Leander, , and , screened by and —pulled into sight. As the destroyers formed a circular screen, the heavy ships hove to and transferred officers for a conference. Shortly thereafter, TF 11 reformed and assumed a northwesterly course toward Bougainville Island and the Bismarck Archipelago. Before a raid against the key Japanese base at Rabaul could be launched, Japanese reconnaissance planes discovered the task force. Accordingly, 17 land-based Mitsubishi G4M bombers set out from Rabaul, New Britain.Lexingtons radar picked up the incoming bombers at 10:30, and the task force increased speed to 21 knots. During the defense of the carrier, Lt. Edward H. "Butch" O'Hare reportedly downed five or six enemy planes in about as many minutes. While Lexingtons F4F Wildcats were fighting above, the ships' gunners were firing antiaircraft guns. Aylwins spotters noted one enemy bomber falling in flames after bursts from their ship had exploded in its vicinity. Then, when a second wave attempted to breach the screen of the task force, Aylwins 20-millimeter guns downed an enemy bomber attempting to crash into the stern of nearby . The remaining bombers returned to Rabaul. No ship in the Lexington formation was damaged. However, since it had been discovered, the American force retired from the area. Aylwin soon left TF 11 to escort the fleet oiler to Pago Pago, Samoa, and then back to Pearl Harbor, reaching port on 8 March. Two days later, Aylwin began screening the 18 ships of convoy 4072 from Honolulu to San Francisco Bay where they arrived on 22 March. Following repairs at the Mare Island Navy Yard, she sortied on the 31st as part of the screen for Hawaii-bound convoy 2054. Reaching Pearl Harbor on 12 April, Aylwin returned to sea on the 15th with TF 11. En route to the South Pacific on the 18th, Lexington flew off a squadron of 14