Getting underway from Manus Island on 29 November, "Hall" steamed to Humboldt Bay, New Guinea, to join 7th Fleet for the developing invasion of the Philippines. Convoying troop-laden amphibious ships, she arrived at Leyte Gulf on 7 December 1944, and 4 days later steamed out of San Pedro Bay for Mindoro Island with the Mindoro Attack Group. As the ships passed through Surigao Strait and into the Sulu Sea, they underwent frequent severe air attacks, but the escort ships succeeded in downing four aircraft by 13 December. On 15 December, "Hall" and the other escorts supported the landings at Mangarin Bay and, as Japanese planes bombed and strafed the first wave of assault troops, "Hall" patrolled and fired from her station to seaward of the landing craft. The gunfire and covering aircraft splashed 15 dive-bombers during the initial landings.