Philippines, was substituted as an objective. The cargo vessel departed Eniwetok on 26 September, bound for Manus, Admiralty Islands, the forward staging area for the assault on Leyte. Alshain reached that port on 3 October and made final preparations for the invasion of the Philippines. On 14 October, she sortied with TG 79.1 which entered Leyte Gulf on the 20th. Alshain anchored in the transport area off Dulag, Leyte, and began lowering her boats at 0730. Despite enemy air harassment, the unloading proceeded so smoothly that the ship completed her work on the 23rd and headed back to Seeadler Harbor, Manus. Getting underway again on 7 November, Alshain proceeded to Hollandia, New Guinea, to take on the personnel and material of the Army Air Service Command. She then rendezvoused with other ships off Biak, Schouten Islands, to form Task Unit (TU) 79.15.4, which proceeded to Leyte Gulf to reinforce Allied forces in the Philippines. The task unit arrived in the waters off Tanauan, Leyte, on the 118th and underwent a Japanese air attack that morning. Alshain joined the others in firing on the enemy intruders. One "A6M Zero" approached the cargo ship and dived from directly astern in what seemed to be a strafing or dive bombing attack. However, intense antiaircraft fire caused the plane to burst into flames, and it splashed close aboard , anchored away. The next day, Alshain left Tanauan to return to Seeadler Harbor. On 28 November, the cargo ship sailed for Finschhafen, New Guinea; paused there on the 29th; and then pressed on to Bougainville, Solomon Islands, arriving in Empress Augusta Bay on 1 December. She embarked members of the 37th Infantry Division and got underway on the 16th for training exercises in Huon Gulf, New Guinea. Alshain finished the exercises and returned to Manus on the 21st. On the last day of 1944, she sortied with TG 79.1 for the assault on Luzon, Philippines. The ships passed through Surigao Strait, the Mindanao and Sulu Seas, and entered the South China Sea on 8 January 1945. On that day, when a small group of enemy planes attacked the transports, Alshain helped to fight off the attack. She continued on toward Luzon, entered the Lingayen Gulf on the 9th, and unloaded her cargo. The ship then returned to Leyte to embark personnel for landings to be conducted in the San Felipe-San Narciso area of Luzon. The