lanes of the Atlantic and Caribbean protecting Allied ships from submarine and air attack. She steamed to the West Indies, Panama, Newfoundland, and Iceland on this duty, a key part of which was protecting the oil tankers vital to the conduct of the war. As the tempo of operations against Japan increased, Howard was transferred to the western Pacific theater, sailing from Norfolk on 21 November 1943, and arriving at San Diego on 7 December. After repairs and training, the ship sailed on 25 March, escorting ships to Pearl Harbor and Majuro. She screened a returning convoy to Pearl Harbor, arriving there on 24 April, and there began preparations for the gigantic invasion of the Marianas. Joining Admiral Richmond Turner's amphibious task force, Howard sortied on 29 May and arrived off Saipan via Eniwetok on 13 June. The ship swept minefields during the day and conducted patrol and harassing fire by night until the landings on 15 June. Howard then was assigned to screen transports, and made two shuttle voyages to Eniwetok and back to the Marianas before returning to Pearl Harbor on 10 August 1944. Howards next operation was the invasion of the Philippines, slated for October on the island of Leyte. Following training in the Hawaiian Islands she arrived at Eniwetok on 24 September, and steamed to Leyte Gulf on 17 October. Once more she carried out minesweeping duties, clearing paths in Surigao Strait and Leyte Gulf, despite heavy weather. Her task completed, she departed on 24 October for Manus with the invasion underway and during the first phase of the battle for Leyte Gulf, which ended in a victory for the U.S. Navy. Training operations in the Admiralties occupied the ship for the next two months, but she sailed again from Manus on 23 December to take part in the next phase of the Philippines operation, the invasion of Luzon. She rendezvoused at Leyte Gulf on 30 December, and departed in convoy for Lingayen Gulf on 2 January 1945. During this voyage through the Philippines, the Japanese made kamikaze attacks, with Howard shooting one attacker down and assisting in destroying many others. The invasion force arrived on 6 January. The minesweepers began their work under almost constant air attack; and, by the time troops landed on 9 January three of Howards sister ships had been lost. The invasion was successful and the veteran minesweepers departed to arrive