From 14 October to 1 November, "Anderson" lay at Wellington, New Zealand, staging with the transports for the next operation. With TF 53, she arrived at Tarawa Atoll on 19 November 1943. As a part of Fire Support Group No. 3, she took station off the eastern end of Betio on D-day, 20 November, and began conducting bombardments of assigned targets. Betio was captured by 24 November, but "Anderson" remained in the general area on radar picket patrol and rendered intermittent call fire until 29 November, when she departed for Pearl Harbor.