"Stembel" sortied from San Pedro on 1 July with TF 38 and operated with the fast carriers in Japanese home waters until 1 September. The destroyer and other fleet surface ships bombarded Kamaishi, Honshū, on 14 July and again on 9 August. On 29 and 30 July, they shelled targets at Hamamatsu, Honshū. On 1 September, the destroyer was detached from the fast carriers and sailed for the United States, arriving at Port Angeles, Wash., on 13 September. She was given a preinactivation overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in November and then steamed down the coast to San Diego. She was decommissioned on 31 May 1946 and attached to the Pacific Reserve Fleet.