1944
This routine was interrupted for the destroyer on 20 January 1944 by an order to proceed to Bougainville Strait. There, Anthony encountered several small Japanese ships and destroyed a gunboat and several barges before resuming her escort duties.
The ship got underway on 15 February to shepherd a group of LSTs to the landing sites on Green Island. Although Anthony was originally slated to perform gunfire support duties, the American troops encountered such light enemy opposition when they went ashore that she was not required to carry out that assignment.
After a brief respite at Purvis Bay, the destroyer sailed on 23 February to take part in a bombardment of the enemy stronghold at Rabaul, New Britain Island. Then, during March, she covered the invasion of Emirau Island before serving as an escort on several supply runs between Guadalcanal and Emirau.
On 24 April, Anthony was assigned to duty with a battleship task force. The destroyer screened New Mexico (BB-40), Idaho (BB-42), and Pennsylvania (BB-38) to Australia. The warships arrived at Sydney; and, on the 29th after a week of liberty in that city, Anthony weighed anchor on 6 May to return to Purvis Bay.
After brief training, Anthony and a group of ships sailed on 2 June for the invasion of the Marianas. They arrived in Kwajalein on the 8th to refuel, then turned westward toward the Marianas. On 14 June, the destroyer fired her guns on Saipan and, the next day, screened other ships during landings on Saipan. On the 16th, she bombarded Guam. The destroyer then detached to join Task Force 58 (TF 58), the Fast Carrier Task Force. Her duties then included screening the carriers and rescuing downed aviators.
On 8 July, Anthony began providing harassing fire on Guam, and the bombardment continued for several days. When relieved, the destroyer proceeded to Eniwetok to refuel and take on provisions. She returned to the action off Guam on 21 July and assumed antisubmarine patrol duty.
On 10 August, Anthony was ordered to proceed to Hawaii. She made an intermediate stop at Eniwetok before arriving at Pearl Harbor on the 20th. There, the ship was briefly dry-docked for repairs and then took part in training exercises off Maui. Anthony sailed for Ulithi on 15 September and arrived safely in that lagoon on 3 October. Shortly thereafter, the destroyer got underway to return to the west coast of the United States.
Soon after her reaching San Francisco, Calif. on 25 October, Anthony entered the Mare Island Navy Yard for an overhaul. She left the shipyard on 13 December to travel to San Diego for a week of refresher training. The destroyer departed the west coast on 20 December with a convoy bound for Hawaii and reached Pearl Harbor on the 30th.
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