On 8 January 1942, "San Francisco" again moved west. In TF 8, she steamed toward Samoa to rendezvous with, and cover the off-loading of, transports carrying reinforcements to Tutuila, Samoa. There, she joined Task Force 17 for raids on Japanese installations in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. "San Francisco" arrived in the Samoan area on 18 January, and on the 24th was detached to continue coverage for the transports while the remainder of the task force and TF 17 conducted offensive operations to the northwest.