"Dunlap" arrived at Noumea, New Caledonia, 5 December 1942 and operated from that base on training and patrol duty, and as escort for convoys to the Fiji, Tonga, and New Hebrides Islands until arriving at Guadalcanal 30 July 1943 for duty in the Solomon Islands. On the night of 6/7 August she was sent with five other destroyers to intercept a Japanese force carrying reinforcements to Kolombangara. In the resulting Battle of Vella Gulf, a night torpedo action, the task group sank three Japanese destroyers and drove the fourth back to its base at Buin. Despite the heavy action, they suffered no damage themselves.