After completing her Caribbean shakedown on 18 October, "Hank" joined , , and at New York and then sailed for the Pacific reaching Pearl Harbor on 6 December via the Panama Canal and San Francisco. "Hank" reported to Ulithi on 28 December and sortied 2 days later as part of the screen for Task Force 38, a fast carrier force under Vice Admiral John S. McCain, Sr.. The primary mission of the carriers was to conduct air strikes against strategic Japanese positions along the China coast and on Formosa and Luzon to distract enemy attention and to divert Japanese ships from the landings at Lingayen Gulf which were to begin on 9 January 1945. The day after the invasion was launched, Task Force 38 moved into the South China Sea to conduct a series of devastating raids on targets along the China Coast and in Indochina. After launching one final raid against Okinawa, the carriers and escorts, "Hank" included, returned to Ulithi on 26 January 1945.