"Stern" screened the attack transports heading for Kerama Retto and arrived there on 26 March. She then performed antisubmarine duty off the islands until 5 April, when she was ordered to escort a resupply convoy to Guam. From there, she sailed to Leyte to join another Okinawa-bound task unit and was back off the island on 18 April. This tour off Okinawa was unbroken until July. On 13 and 18 May, she shot down two enemy planes each day, and splashed a single on the 27th.