The
Bennett arrived at
Pearl Harbor on 31 May, and she then spent the next two months patrolling in the
Hawaiian Islands. After escorting a convoy to
Efate in the
New Hebrides, she acted as a plane guard and patrolled out of Efate (27 August through 28 October). Moving to the
Solomon Islands 4 November, she patrolled and escorted
convoys until 5 April 1944. Included in her service in the
Solomon Islands was support of the
Cape Torokina,
Bougainville landings (on 1 November 1943 on the western side of the island) and
Green Island (on 15 February 1944) landings, and bombardments of the Japanese base at
Kavieng on
New Ireland, (on 18 February 1944) and
Rabaul,
New Britain (29 February). The
Bennett next steamed north to take part in the invasions of
Saipan (14 June through 1 July) and of
Guam (2nd through 16 August). Returning to the
Central Pacific later in the month she supported the
invasion of the Palaus (
Peleliu) (6 through 25 September), and then she returned to
San Francisco for upkeep work, arriving on 25 October 1944. The
Bennett returned to Pearl Harbor on 24 December, and she remained in Hawaiian waters for the next month. Then she steamed west to take part in the
invasion of Iwo Jima (19 February through 5 March 1945), where she was slightly damaged by a dud bomb (1 March). On 1 April she was a unit of the forces taking part in the
invasion of Okinawa. At 08:50, on 7 April, she was hit by an
Imperial Japanese Navy kamikaze plane, damaging the forward engine room, and knocking out all of her electrical power. Seven sailors ultimately died from their injuries, and fourteen survived serious injuries. The
Bennett was able to make it to the small naval base at
Kerama Retto under her own power, and on the following day she departed for
Saipan under tow of the fleet tugboat . After emergency repairs, she steamed to
Puget Sound Navy Yard where she underwent further repairs (May though August 1945). In August she reported to
Adak, in the
Aleutian Islands, and then she made one voyage to
Petropavlovsk on the
Kamchatka Peninsula, with weather personnel (28 August through 26 September). Returning to
San Diego, she was placed in commission in reserve on 21 December 1945, and out of commission in reserve on 18 April 1946. ==Brazilian service==