"Stephen Potter" was in the screen of the fast carriers when they made the first strike against Truk on 17 and 18 February 1944. was damaged on the 17th by an aircraft torpedo, and the DD escorted the carrier back to the Marshalls. "Stephen Potter" departed there on 27 February, called at Pearl Harbor, and sailed to the West Coast of the United States. She arrived on 13 March and, five days later, began the voyage back to Majuro where she rejoined the fast carriers.