With the end of hostilities and Japan's unconditional surrender, "Lardner" escorted the crippled to Saipan 17 August 1945, and from Saipan sailed to Okinawa to join a group of battleships preparing to sail to Japan for the Japanese surrender. "Lardner" arrived Sagami Wan on 27 August and entered Tokyo Bay on 29 August, escorting Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz's flagship . "Lardner" next joined in evacuating several hundred prisoners-of-war from southern Honshū. "Lardner" operated with several task groups and units performing varied occupation duties until 15 October when she departed Honshu with TG 50.5 for home. On the homeward voyage, she touched at Singapore, Ceylon, Cape Town, and Saldanha Bay, South Africa, before arriving New York on 7 December 1945.