As part of the preliminaries to the invasion of the Philippines, the fast carriers were ordered to attack Japanese air strength in the Bonins and the Palaus and on Yap and Mindanao. On 28 August, in company with TG 38.2—consisting of , , , , , two battleships, four cruisers, and seventeen other destroyers—"Benham" steamed west for a large raid on the Palaus. She screened the carriers during attacks there between 6 and 8 September and against Japanese airfields near Sarangani Bay on Mindanao in the Philippines on 9 and 10 September. Returning to the Palaus on 15 September, the destroyer screened the carriers as they flew strikes in support of the landings on Peleliu and Angaur. After a final series of strikes against airfields on Luzon between 21 and 24 September, the task force steamed to Ulithi on 29 September to rearm and refuel.