However, "Stevens"' tour of duty with the 5th Fleet in the Central Pacific soon ended, for she cleared Kwajalein on 4 February 1944 for the South Pacific area. She stopped at Funafuti, in the Ellice Islands, from 8 to 13 February; then joined "Lang" (DD-399), "Hogan" (DD-178), "Hamilton" (DD-141), and "Stansbury" (DD-180) to screen Transport Divisions 24 and 26. The convoy divided on the 15th, and the Guadalcanal detachment, consisting of "Stevens" and "Lang" screening "DuPage" (APA-41), "Aquarius" (AKA-16), and "Almaack" (AK-27), arrived off Koli Point three days later. On 19 February, "Stevens" departed Guadalcanal to accompany "Almaack" to New Caledonia. They reached Nouméa on 22 February. After four days at the French port, the destroyer got underway in company with SS "Japara" back to the Solomons. On 4 March, she screened the merchantman into Tulagi harbor; fueled at nearby Port Purvis on Florida Island; then took station ahead of SS "Mormacwren" for a voyage to Efate. The "Stevens" put into Havannah Harbor on 5 March after parting company with the merchantman, which continued on independently to Auckland, New Zealand.