"John Rodgers" departed the Philippines 30 October for Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, and a badly needed overhaul. In early January 1945, the destroyer sailed west to join Admiral Raymond Spruance's Task Force 58 (TF 58) on 7 February for carrier aircraft strikes on the Japanese homeland beginning 16 February. She sailed to the Bonin Islands to screen the carrier task force covering the invasion of Iwo Jima on 19 February, gaining a forward base for B-29 Superfortresses.