"Erben" was back in action 15 March 1945 when she rendezvoused one day out of Ulithi with the fast carrier task force for air strikes on Kyūshū and Okinawa. During two of these, on 26 and 30 March, she rescued a total of four downed aviators. The pounding of Okinawa reached its height for the invasion landings of 1 April, and "Erben" continued to screen the carriers as they operated off the island through the next 2 months. She fired with success to drive off "kamikazes", rescued survivors of damaged ships, bombarded shore targets, and saved many downed aviators. On 3 and 23 May, she rescued the same three-man plane crew from .