Following 10 days in the Efate area, the "Stevens" sortied with Task Force 37 to bombard the Kavieng area of northwestern New Ireland. Until mid-March, an assault upon this area had been assumed to be necessary to complete the circle around the huge Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain Island and to provide a base for operations north to the Philippines. However, the decision to occupy part of the Admiralty Islands obviated Kavieng as a base; and the planners felt that the air campaign against Rabaul was proceeding so well that it was neutralizing that large Japanese base without the occupation of Kavieng. Consequently, the naval bombardment, during which the "Stevens" concentrated on the islands of Nusa and Nusalik, was the only phase of the operation carried out, but it was nevertheless highly effective. Samuel Eliot Morison quotes Japanese sources which attest to the "demoralizing" effect of the bombardments, in which "Stevens", two escort carriers, and 14 other destroyers joined the battleships "New Mexico" (BB-40), (BB-41), "Tennessee" (BB-43), and "Idaho" (BB-42).