The destroyer then cruised south to Manus Island, the staging area for the upcoming Leyte operation. On 11 October she got underway, screening LSTs and LCIs of the 7th Fleet to Leyte. During the assault on Dulag, 20 October she served as fighter-director for aircraft covering the landings. In the early hours of the 25th she participated in DesRon 54's torpedo attack on Japanese men-of-war, weakening them as they steamed Up Surigao Strait into defeat at the hands of Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf and his battleline.