"Capps" was detached at Scapa Flow 22 November 1943 and sailed to Boston, arriving 4 December. Twenty days later she got underway for New Orleans, where she joined the escort of a troop convoy bound for Pearl Harbor, arriving 20 January 1944. Guarding another convoy, "Capps" sailed on to Funafuti, from which she put out for patrol duty off Tarawa, Makin, and Kwajalein as these islands were assaulted to open the Marshall Islands operation. Forced back to San Francisco by a boiler casualty, "Capps" returned to action at Majuro 23 April, and was assigned to area escort, antisubmarine, and antiaircraft patrols. Convoy duty took her to Pearl Harbor in May, returning to Eniwetok 14 June. Based there, the destroyer screened service forces supporting the invasion of the Marianas, then moved forward to Manus in August to continue operations with the screen of the 3rd Fleet logistics group in the western Carolines operations. The ships whose service forces "Capps" protected carried out the crucial attacks on Japanese bases which prepared for the Leyte operation, and "Capps" herself joined the screen of a carrier group for air strikes on Manila on 25 November. She continued her activities with the 3rd Fleet until the close of the year, when she reported for a month of duty on radar picket station, in air-sea rescue, and escorting convoys from Saipan to Guam, Eniwetok, and Ulithi. On 1 February 1945, she reported at Ulithi to train with underwater demolition teams for the invasion of Iwo Jima, for which she sailed 14 February.