Mili Atoll
She put to sea in late December with 103 Marines to reinforce their detachment at Johnston Island (about 750 nautical miles—860 miles, or 1,390 km—west of Hawaii), and evacuated 47 civilians to Hawaii the following month. A convoy assignment took "Mahan" to Samoa, where she joined Task Force 17 (including the carrier , two cruisers and five destroyers). The task force carried out raids on Jaluit Atoll, Mili Atoll and Makin Atoll (Butaritari) in the Marshall Islands and Gilbert Islands. "Mahan" moved on to Canton Island in late February 1942, temporarily assigned to offshore patrol duty. By early April, she was at sea with a convoy bound for San Pedro, California. The ship then steamed north to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for overhaul, docking on 18 April 1942.