By January 1943, the ship had been joined by the fast battleships and ; the three battleships were grouped together as TF 64 under Rear Admiral Willis Lee, and they covered convoys to support the fighting in the Solomons into the next year. These operations included covering a group of seven transports carrying elements of the 25th Infantry Division to Guadalcanal from 1 to 4 January 1943. During another of these convoy operations later that month, the battleships were too far south to come to aid of the American cruiser force during the Battle of Rennell Island at the end of the month. During the invasion of New Georgia, the battleship force, which now included "Indiana", "North Carolina", and , was assigned to cover the invasion fleet against possible Japanese attacks. "Indiana" supported the carrier task force that raided Marcus Island on 31 August – 1 September. She took part in the invasion of Tarawa on 20–23 November and provided part of the anti-aircraft screen for the aircraft carriers of Task Group 50.2 off Makin Atoll, including "Enterprise", , and . During operations in the area, "Indiana"s anti-aircraft gunners claimed their first Japanese aircraft. On 8 December, "Indiana", four other battleships, and twelve destroyers bombarded Japanese positions on Nauru. Between the five battleships, a total of 810 sixteen-inch shells were fired at the island.