After six weeks in the Mare Island Navy Yard, she got underway for the South Pacific. Her return to action, however, was short-lived for—while operating in Pepasala Bay in the Russell Islands on 26 February 1943—a heavy squall forced her aground on a reef. In maneuvering clear of the reef, she was forced to back down to avoid a collision with the destroyer and damaged her starboard propeller. After emergency repairs at Tulagi, she was routed back to Mare Island, where she arrived on 16 April.