At bases in the Southwest Pacific, American forces prepared for their first amphibious assault of the war, the Solomon Islands. "Tracy", in Task Force (TF) 62, arrived off the beaches of Guadalcanal on 7 August, as the guns of US cruisers and destroyers conducted a shore bombardment. She took part in the hard-fought campaign for the islands, engaged in the unglamorous but vital tasks of escort duty and antisubmarine patrol. She operated between Espiritu Santo and the battle zones through the summer and fall of 1942 before returning to Pearl Harbor in December for a brief refit. On 18 December, she set out for New Caledonia, escorting a west-bound convoy, and arrived with her charges at Nouméa on 2 January 1943.