After several weeks of training, "Ringgold" joined a fast carrier task force built around , , and . The force worked over Marcus Island 1 September 1943 and then moved on to conduct a raid in the Gilberts. The carrier planes conducted seven strikes 18–19 September on Tarawa and Makin. A Japanese diarist recorded that Tarawa "is a sea of flames"; nine parked planes and five vessels were destroyed. Most importantly, planes from returned with a set of low oblique photos of the lagoon side of Betio, and these proved to be most useful in planning the assault on Tarawa.