By 21 December 1943, she was back in San Diego to escort the 4th Marine Division to Kwajalein. En route, "Anderson" was one of the units designated to conduct a diversionary strike at Wotje on 30 January 1944. As one of the leading destroyers she opened the bombardment at 0642 and began to maneuver to avoid enemy return fire. At 0646, a shell hit in her combat information center (CIC), killing the commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander John G. Tennent, III, two ensigns, and three enlisted men, and wounding 14 others. Her executive officer immediately assumed command and kept her firing until she could maneuver to seaward to act as antisubmarine screen until completion of the Wotje bombardment at noon. The next day, "Anderson" approached the objective islands of Roi and Namur, Kwajalein Atoll, and screened to seaward as the heavy units began the bombardment. On 1 February, while transferring her wounded, she struck an uncharted pinnacle and had to be towed to Pearl Harbor.