1943
The destroyer held her shakedown training in Casco Bay and was then assigned escort duty. She stood out of New York on 29 April with convoy UGF-8 for Casablanca and returned with GUF-8 on 31 May. On 11 June, Thatcher departed the east coast for duty in the Pacific. She joined the Pacific Fleet on the 19th and, after calling at Mare Island Naval Shipyard for armament modifications, arrived at Pearl Harbor on 31 July.
On 22 August, Thatcher joined the fast aircraft carrier task group of Rear Admiral Charles Alan Pownall. It steamed toward Marcus Island and launched air attacks against that enemy base on the 31st. The group returned to Pearl Harbor on 7 September.
The following week, the destroyer got underway for the New Hebrides and arrived at Espiritu Santo on the 27th. She performed escort duty between Espiritu Santo and Guadalcanal and then screened a resupply convoy to Vella Lavella in mid-October. In late October, Task Force 39 (TF 39), composed of Cruiser Division 12 and Destroyer Divisions (DesDiv) 45 and 46, was assembled at Purvis Bay to support the landings on Bougainville. The force—including Thatcher in DesDiv 46—sortied on 30 October.
It bombarded the Buka-Bonis airfields on the night of 31 October and 1 November and then made a high-speed run to the southern tip of the island to shell airfields in the Shortland Islands. After the landings on Cape Torokina on 1 November, TF 39 protected the amphibious forces from enemy interference. That afternoon, TF 39 was ordered to intercept a force of enemy cruisers and destroyers that had left Rabaul to destroy American shipping in Empress Augusta Bay.
At 02:27 on 2 November, radar on the American ships showed surface blips at a range of slightly over 35,000 yards (32 km). The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay began when the destroyers of DesDiv 45 fired a salvo of 25 torpedoes at the Japanese ships. However, due to a right turn by the enemy to close and to get into battle formation, all of the torpedoes missed.
DesDiv 46—composed of Thatcher, Spence, Converse, and Foote—was protecting the rear of the American formation. These ships held their fire until 03:52 when they launched 19 torpedoes against two Japanese destroyers without scoring. However, the American cruisers had been tallying hits on the Japanese cruiser Sendai, which was soon a blazing wreck. During the ensuing melee, Foote was hit by a torpedo that blew off her stern. Spence sideswiped Thatcher, but the resulting damage did not threaten the survival of either ship. Spence signalled Thatcher during the battle: "We’ve just had another close miss. Hope you are not shooting at us." Thatcher replied: "Sorry. You will have to excuse the next four salvos. They’re already on their way." Thatcher's salvos missed the Spence but sank the Japanese destroyer Hatsukaze. Finally, Spence took a hit below the water line that let salt water contaminate her fuel oil. While the Japanese lost Sendai and Hatsukaze, the United States suffered no total losses as Foote was towed to port and repaired. The next day, the Japanese attacked TF 39 with over 100 aircraft. They lost over 20 planes while scoring two hits on Montpelier.
A closer inspection of Thatcher revealed that her collision with Spence had sprung her starboard shaft and had caused extensive dishing of her starboard side amidships. She steamed to Purvis Bay and was routed onward to Nouméa where the misaligned screw was repaired. She then returned to Espiritu Santo where she received orders to proceed to the United States for further repairs. On 20 November, Thatcher got underway as an escort for Birmingham, and the ships arrived at San Francisco on 14 December 1943. After her damage had been corrected at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Thatcher stood out of San Francisco on 11 February 1944 and steamed to Pearl Harbor for refresher training before rejoining TF 39 on 14 March.
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