dawn broke, the American warships steamed off toward a rendezvous with some transports. On the way, TF 39 beat off a 100-plane raid from Rabaul and, by the next day, was in port in Tulagi. Throughout November and December 1943, Stanly operated between the New Hebrides, the Solomons, and among the various islands of the latter group. On 16 November, she joined Converse (DD-509) in shelling a Japanese submarine and, in all probability, sank it. At various times during this period, she came under aerial attack; on Christmas Eve she bombarded Massungon Island. Stanly put in at Port Purvis on the day after Christmas for logistics and, eight days later, departed for Espiritu Santo and availability and exercises. 1944 On 29 January 1944, she completed underway exercises and reentered Port Purvis. She stood out again the next day; patrolled around Buka Island, Choiseul Bay, Bougainville, and Green Island; and bombarded the west coast of Bougainville, the east coast of Buka, and the east coast of Bougainville, before retiring to Florida Island. Stanly entered Purvis Bay on 11 February and departed again on the 13th. She feinted toward Espiritu Santo; then, under the cover of darkness, turned north and headed for Green Island, where she supported the landings on 14 and 15 February. By the 22nd, she was cruising the Kavieng-New Hanover area of the "Bismarcks Barrier". On that day, she sank a seagoing tug and helped sink the small minelayer Nasami. For the next month, Stanly continued to operate with TF 39, conducting antishipping sweeps of the Kavieng-Rabaul sea lanes and bombarding various enemy positions in the Bismarcks. She also returned periodically to escort supply echelons among the several islands in the Solomons group. As the emphasis shifted from the South Pacific to the Central Pacific in early 1944, so too, did the need for destroyers. On 24 March, Stanly exited Purvis Bay and, by the 30th, was cruising in the screen of Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher's Fast Carrier Task Force (then-called TF 58) as it launched planes against the Palau Islands. On the next day, she sailed north of Palau as Task Group 58.4 (TG 58.4) sent strikes against both Palau and Yap. The carriers' planes hit Woleai on 1 April and began retiring to Majuro. Stanly arrived in Majuro lagoon on the 6th and underwent repairs until the 30th. She spent the month of May in operations