conducted shore bombardment and patrols in that general area in August, and in September escorted LSTs to the invasion of Lae on the 4th, after which she patrolled offshore while under enemy air attack. Later that month she conducted preinvasion bombardment north of Finschafen, off which she served until late in October. On 20 October, she and four companion destroyers were attacked by 60 enemy planes; Mugford suffered no damage. On 15 May 1943 the Mugford rescued the survivors of the Australian hospital ship AHS Centaur off Point Lookout, Queensland, after Centaur had been sunk by a Japanese submarine the previous day. On 14 and 15 December, she participated in the largest operation yet in the New Guinea campaign, the landings on Arawe, New Britain. Next was the assault on Buna and Cape Gloucester, where on Christmas Day she came under enemy air attack, taking three near misses in a first attack, and shooting down an attacker in a second assault later the same day. One man was killed, six wounded, and the ship riddled with shrapnel with some small holes below the waterline. After repairs at Milne Bay, Mugford returned to patrol, bombardment, and escort missions for the New Guinea operation, sailing off Saidor. On 10 January 1944 she sailed for Sydney, then returned to New Guinea and escort and patrol duty in Huon Gulf. After escorting three merchantmen from Tulagi to the Union Islands, Mugford arrived at Pearl Harbor 24 February to escort Maryland (BB-46) to Puget Sound, before continuing on to Mare Island for overhaul, arriving 5 March. Mugford returned to Pearl Harbor 10 May for training in preparation for the Marianas operation, for which she staged at Majuro. Screening the fast carriers, she observed the first strike the morning of 11 June, then screened battleships bombarding Saipan and Tinian, firing night harassing missions herself and screening night retirements. She rejoined the carrier screen as word came of the approach of an enemy carrier force, and thus played a role in the epic Battle of the Philippine Sea, when Japanese naval aviation was all but exterminated in a great victory. She continued patrol and escort missions in the Marianas and Marshalls as preparations were made to invade Guam, during which action Mugford served as radar picket between Guam and Rota. On 28 August, she sortied with TF 38 for surface bombardment and airstrikes on enemy shipping and