Over the next six months, "Stringham" advanced up the Solomons staircase with the American forces. In mid-August, she participated in the landings at Vella Lavella in the central Solomons. That operation cut the Japanese supply lines to Kolombangara and delivered vital air bases to the Americans. On 27 October, she and six other APDs, along with various smaller ships, put a force of New Zealanders ashore at Mono and Stirling islands in the Treasury Islands sub-group. November found her supporting the assault on Bougainville at Empress Augusta Bay.