Following an availability at the St. Helena Annex, "Bunch" departed Norfolk on 20 December 1944 in company with to escort the transports , and , to the Canal Zone. Arriving in Panama on Christmas Day 1944, she transited the canal the following day, reported to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, for duty and ultimately reached San Diego on 3 January 1945. Underway for Hawaii on the 9th, she arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 15th. "Bunch" then exercised at Maui's Ma'alaea Bay with Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) 18 and 21. With UDT-21 remaining on board, "Bunch" sailed for the Marshall Islands on 14 February, arriving at Eniwetok on the 22nd. After fueling, the high-speed transport put to sea the next day in the screen of a convoy of which part was bound for the Western Carolines and the rest for the Philippines. The convoy's Ulithi-bound portion parted company on 28 February, but "Bunch" remained with the Leyte-bound part and arrived in Tarraguna Anchorage near San Pedro Bay on 4 March.