By mid-March, she had rejoined the fast carriers at Ulithi, sailing northwest with them on the 14th to prepare the way for the Okinawa campaign. For the next 61 days, "Melvin" remained at sea, guarding the carriers, providing fire support for the troops embattled after 1 April, and patrolling on picket station. After a brief respite at Ulithi in mid-May, she returned to the Ryukyu Islands on the 24th for raids on enemy installations in those islands and on Kyūshū. Mid-June brought another brief respite from the war while the destroyer was docked in San Pedro Bay. She was underway again on 1 July as the carriers steamed north for their last deployment against Japan. In the next month and a half, the force operated off the enemy's homeland, shelling and bombing industrial and military centers on Honshū and Hokkaidō.