From the Admiralties, "Manatee" proceeded north to support the forces then covering the Leyte landings. Her fueling activities kept her in the Philippines until late February 1945, when she returned to Ulithi, where three months earlier one of the "Manatee's" sister ships, the oiler USS "Mississinewa" (AO-59), had been sunk by a Kaiten, a manned Japanese suicide torpedo. From Ulithi, "Manatee" steamed back to Leyte Gulf to fuel the amphibious forces gathering for the Okinawa campaign. On 28 March she began shuttling oil from Ulithi to the carrier groups operating in the Battle of Okinawa. She continued to work this supply line until the securing of the island on 21 June, 82 days after the initial landings. On 2 July, "Manatee" was ordered to join other fast oilers in lending close support to carrier groups during strikes on the Japanese home islands. The oilers moving at night to rendezvous with the carriers, refueled them within 200 miles (322 km) of the enemy’s coastline, and then retired. Efficient organization and rapid routing of empty oilers to Ulithi for refueling resulted in an ample supply of fuel oil for the fleet carrier forces.