Ray served in the office of the Commander in Chief United States Fleet, Admiral Ernest J. King from April to September 1943. He then became Captain of the battleship . The ship had been damaged in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 but returned to service. "Maryland" participated in the Battle of Tarawa in November 1943 as the flagship of Rear Admiral Harry W. Hill's V Amphibious Force and Southern Attack Force, and her guns participated in the shore bombardment. In February 1944, she joined in the Battle of Kwajalein, firing at pillboxes and blockhouses on Roi Island. "Maryland"'s guns supported the Battle of Saipan, silencing a pair of coastal guns. On 22 June, she was torpedoed by a Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bomber, but was repaired in time to join Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf's Western Fire Support Group in the Battle of Peleliu. Still with Oldendorff's group, but now part of the Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid's Seventh Fleet, "Maryland" participated in the Battle of Leyte in October. In the Battle of Surigao Strait, it joined the other battleships in engaging the Japanese battleships and and their escorts. Ray was awarded a second Silver Star. His citation read: