Pacific Service
In late January 1945, Underhill was assigned to the Seventh Fleet in the Philippine Islands, departing New London on 8 February 1945, rendezvousing with HMS Patroller to escort the British escort carrier to the Panama Canal Zone. Underhill then steamed via the Panama Canal, the Galapagos Islands, and Bora Bora to the Admiralty Islands and arrived at Seeadler Harbor on 15 March 1945.
Her first convoy took her to Lingayen Gulf where she remained for four days of radar picket duty. From there she went on to Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) and Biak. On 5 June 1945, Underhill left Hollandia escorting the troopship USS General M.B. Stewart (AP-140) to Leyte Gulf.
On 10 June 1945, Underhill left Leyte for Hollandia, but in route received a distress call from OA-10 #23, a Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat. Underhill and Thadeus Parker were diverted to the crash site by orders of the Commander, Philippine Sea Frontier. The destroyers and various aircraft patrolled the area until 12 June when the search was abandoned. After Parker and the aircraft had left the area, Underhill's lookouts spotted green dye marker and a ration can floating in the water. Investigating further, into a rain squall, the lookouts found three survivors, who had been in the water about 60 hours with life jackets but no life raft. Underhill took them aboard at 07:59 and transported them to Hollandia.
Underhill escorted shipping between Manus, Bora Bora, and Palau, until she joined a large convoy of supply and troopships. She departed Leyte Gulf on 9 July and arrived at Okinawa on 14 July 1945. There, she was assigned to radar picket duty until relieved to serve as escort commander of Task Unit 99-1-18, a convoy from Buckner Bay, Okinawa back to Leyte Gulf on 21 July 1945. The convoy included one troop ship and six LSTs carrying troops of the 96th Division back to the Philippines for rest and reinforcements. The convoy escorts were patrol craft PC-1251, PC-803, PC-804, and PC-807, sub chasers SC-1306 and SC-1309, and patrol craft escort PCE-872.
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