At Iwo Jima from 16 February to 28 February, she gave her experienced aid in sweeping, patrolling, and screening for the buildup and the subsequent assault. Though there was damage to many vessels and smaller sweepers from shore batteries, damage to destroyer minesweepers at Iwo did not occur, as screening battleships and destroyers stayed closer to the sweepers, and the beach areas swept were smaller than those in the Philippine Island chain. As Samuel Morison noted, "Bombardment ships were in position off Iwo by 7:00. Minesweeping began promptly". Though many American vessels were damaged at Iwo Jima, it was placed first before Okinawa as it was expected to be an easier battle, and this proved to be the case, particularly for the Navy.