After a shakedown cruise to Bermuda 28 September to 31 October 1944, "Lewis" received a week of upkeep at Boston before sailing to Casco Bay, Maine, for a few days training in early November. In company with , "Lewis" escorted the battleships and south on 10 November. Joined two days later by the battleship , aircraft carriers and , the task unit proceeded through the Panama Canal and on to Hawaii via San Diego and San Francisco, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 5 December. The destroyer escort got underway on 26 December to escort merchant convoy PD220-T, shepherding her charges to Eniwetok without incident on 4 January 1945. "Lewis" sailed to Ulithi that same day, arriving at that atoll on 10 January. With large-scale operations in the Philippines requiring significant logistical support, "Lewis" spent the rest of the month conducted anti-submarine sweeps along the shipping routes and near Yap Island.