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"Key" arrived Hollandia, New Guinea, 27 December, and between 1 January 1945 and 6 February she made five escort runs from Hollandia to Leyte Gulf. On 9 February she began antisubmarine patrols east of Leyte Gulf; then she steamed to Mangarin Bay, Mindoro, 19 February for similar duty in the South China Sea. Returning to Leyte 14 March, the versatile destroyer escort operated out of Leyte Gulf and Polloc, Mindanao, screening ships en route to Lingayen Gulf, Luzon; Zamboanga, Mindanao; Jolo, Sulu Archipelago; and Legaspi and Manila, Luzon. After escorting a convoy of LSMs and LCIs to Davao Gulf 15 May, "Key" bombarded and destroyed an important Japanese patrol boat base at Piso Point before returning to Polloc on 17 May.