On the first day of the new year, 1945, the destroyer joined TG77.3, the Close Support Group for the Lingayen Gulf assault. "En route" to Luzon, her group was harassed by enemy midget submarines and almost constant air raids. After a two-day bombardment, Army troops landed at Lingayen Gulf 9 January. Until the 18th, "Nicholas" provided fire support, then patrolled to the west of Luzon with the covering escort carrier group. On the 24th, she captured a motor boat being used by three Japanese to escape from the island and on the 29th provided close cover for the landings in Zambales Province.