1944
On 29 January 1944, she completed underway exercises and reentered Port Purvis. She stood out again the next day; patrolled around Buka Island, Choiseul Bay, Bougainville, and Green Island; and bombarded the west coast of Bougainville, the east coast of Buka, and the east coast of Bougainville, before retiring to Florida Island. Stanly entered Purvis Bay on 11 February and departed again on the 13th. She feinted toward Espiritu Santo; then, under the cover of darkness, turned north and headed for Green Island, where she supported the landings on 14 and 15 February.
By the 22nd, she was cruising the Kavieng-New Hanover area of the "Bismarcks Barrier". On that day, she sank a seagoing tug and helped sink the small minelayer Nasami. For the next month, Stanly continued to operate with TF 39, conducting antishipping sweeps of the Kavieng-Rabaul sea lanes and bombarding various enemy positions in the Bismarcks. She also returned periodically to escort supply echelons among the several islands in the Solomons group.
As the emphasis shifted from the South Pacific to the Central Pacific in early 1944, so too, did the need for destroyers. On 24 March, Stanly exited Purvis Bay and, by the 30th, was cruising in the screen of Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher's Fast Carrier Task Force (then-called TF 58) as it launched planes against the Palau Islands. On the next day, she sailed north of Palau as Task Group 58.4 (TG 58.4) sent strikes against both Palau and Yap. The carriers' planes hit Woleai on 1 April and began retiring to Majuro. Stanly arrived in Majuro lagoon on the 6th and underwent repairs until the 30th. She spent the month of May in operations and exercises around Majuro. From 3 to 8 June, in company with Indianapolis (CA-35), the destroyer made the circuit from Majuro to Kwajalein to Eniwetok, leaving the latter atoll on the 8th to rejoin TF 58.
The Fast Carrier Task Force, with Stanly in its screen, opened the air assault on the Marianas on 11 June, sending sorties to bomb and strafe Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan. The pilots of TF 58 added Pagan Island to their itinerary on the 12th and again on the 13th. On 15 and 16 June, Stanly escorted Task Group 58.4 while its planes attacked Iwo Jima and Chi Chi Jima in the Bonins. On the 18th, the task group rejoined TF 58 just in time to witness the Battle of the Philippine Sea, in which the United States Navy broke Japanese naval airpower. On 20 June, Stanly participated in the bombardment of Guam and Rota and, two days later, moved off to defend and support the American forces on Saipan. She continued patrols and periodic bombardments around Saipan until 3 July, when she retired with TG 58.4 to Eniwetok. The destroyer returned to the Marianas on 18 July and screened the carriers until the 31st, when she was ordered back to the United States.
Stopping at Eniwetok from 1 to 3 August and at Pearl Harbor overnight on 10 and 11 August, Stanly entered the Bethlehem Steel Co. shipyard at San Francisco on the 17th. She spent the month of September in overhaul and early October in trials. By 18 October, she was back in Pearl Harbor preparing to return to the western Pacific. Finally, on 10 November, she stood out of Pearl Harbor and, 11 days later, entered Ulithi lagoon. Stanly remained in Ulithi for the rest of November and for the first week in December. On 8 December, she escorted Boulder Victory (AK-227) and SS Elmira Victory to Kossol Passage in the Palaus.
After fueling, she sailed for the Philippines and arrived in Leyte Gulf on 11 December. The destroyer operated out of San Pedro Bay for the remainder of 1944.
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