On 29 October 1944, "West Virginia", "Tennessee", and the battleship got underway, headed to the navy's advance base at Ulithi. From there, "West Virginia" proceeded on to Espiritu Santo for repairs to her damaged propellers; Ruddock shifted his flag to "Maryland" during this period. On arriving, she entered the floating drydock for maintenance before returning to the Philippines in November. Steaming first to Manus and then to Leyte Gulf, she arrived on 25 November and resumed patrols in the area to defend the fleet from air attacks. On 27 November, the fleet came under another attack and at 11:39, her gunners shot down a kamikaze suicide aircraft. During further attacks the next day, she assisted in the destruction of several other kamikazes. Ruddock returned to the ship on 30 November, and the battleship remained in the area until 2 December, when she departed for the Palau Islands for replenishment. There, she became the flagship of TG 77.12, the bombardment group for the next landing in the Philippines.