On 17 March, "Aylwin" left Pearl Harbor for off-shore patrol and exercises. Two days later, the ship conducted a two-hour night tactical exercise on a dark, moonless night, commencing at 20:00. At its conclusion, all destroyers were directed to proceed to a rendezvous astern of the fleet's center. At 22:51, "Aylwin" turned on her running and fighting lights and sighted a ship materializing out of the murk on her port bow. "Aylwin" maintained her course and speed until backing emergency full at 23:03. At that point, the other ship, "Farragut", loomed on a collision course and also backed to avoid contact. Shortly after 23:04, "Farragut"s bow sliced into "Aylwin"s port side at a 90-degree angle, causing extensive damage for about 23 frames and nearly severing "Aylwin"'s bow.