By mid-March "McCord" had rendezvoused with TF 39 in the Bismarck Archipelago and for two weeks she cruised in the Ysabel Channel in support of landings at Emirau Island, 21 March. She next escorted replacement troops from Purvis Bay, Florida Island, to Emirau. Returning to Purvis Bay at the end of April, she departed 1 May to escort tankers to refueling positions in the Solomons area. On 11 June, after 2 weeks of antisubmarine patrols in the area around Bougainville and New Georgia, she arrived off New Ireland to bombard an enemy tank repair installation, resuming escort duties upon its destruction. Interrupting her escort service between the Admiralties and the Solomons on 23 July, she joined TF 52 at Saipan and took part in the shelling of Tinian.