1944
The task force covered the unopposed landings on Emirau Island on the 20th. On 26 March, Thatcher was reassigned to TG 58.3 of the Fast Carrier Task Force. She escorted the carriers as their aircraft flew strikes against Palau, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai in the Caroline Islands from 30 March to 1 April. The task group then retired to the Marshall Islands to prepare for their next assault against Japanese bases.
On 13 April, Thatcher escorted the fast carriers to New Guinea as they launched strikes against Hollandia, Wakde, Sawar, and Sarmi on the 21st and 22d to support landings at Aitape and at Tanahmerah and Humboldt Bays. On 29 April, aircraft from the carriers began a two-day attack against Truk, Ponape, and Satawan. On 1 May, Thatcher was in the screen of the bombardment group that shelled Ponape.
Thatcher returned to Majuro on 4 May to enter a floating drydock for repairs. She returned to sea late in the month for refresher training and firing exercises. On 26 May, her number 3 5 inch gun accidentally fired into her starboard midships 20 mm mount, killing five men and causing considerable structural damage. Repairs were completed in time for the destroyer to accompany TG 58.4 to the Mariana Islands.
While operating with the group near Saipan on 12 June, Thatcher and Charles Ausburne were ordered to rescue some aviators in the water near Pagan Island. The two destroyers closed to within five miles of the enemy-held island before reaching the pilots. It was shortly before dark and, as Charles Ausburne was picking them up, Thatcher investigated a ship which had been sighted about six miles northward. She found a small wooden freighter and took it under fire. The size of the fires which broke out on the target and the subsequent explosions indicated that her cargo was oil and ammunition. Survivors in the water refused the lifelines thrown to them.
Thatcher rejoined her sister destroyer, and they made a sweep of the island seeking further targets. They soon made radar contact, and both ships began firing at 12,000 yards (11 km) but observed no hits. When they had closed the range to 4,700 yards (4.3 km), Ausburne fired star shells which revealed a ship similar to the vessel Thatcher had sunk. She then fired another salvo which set the ship afire. The destroyers found no other targets before they rejoined the task group the next morning.
The carriers conducted air strikes against the Bonin Islands on 15 and 16 June and returned to the Saipan area. On 18 June, when TF 58 prepared for a major battle with the Japanese fleet, Thatcher's group took station on the northern flank of the force. During the ensuing action—later referred to as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot"—only a few Japanese planes broke through the American fighter cover, and they caused no damage. Meanwhile, the Japanese lost over 300 aircraft.
The next day, Thatcher and TG 58.4 were detached from the westward-moving task force to refuel and to continue strikes against Rota and Guam. In the early morning of the 20th, carrier aircraft of the group shot down 18 enemy planes and destroyed 52 more on the ground. On 27 June, Thatcher was with the destroyer squadron that was detached to accompany Miami and Houston on a bombardment mission against Rota and Guam. Thatcher and two other destroyers shelled Rota, setting fire to a sugar mill and other buildings, and then joined the other ships off Guam to bombard airfields, shipping, storage tanks, and other worthwhile targets. Thatcher shelled the same islands again three days later and continued the operation through 1 July.
She returned to Eniwetok on 6 July with the task group and remained there for a week before heading back toward the Marianas. The destroyer served with TF 58 until 2 August when she was detached to join Admiral William Halsey's 3d Fleet at Eniwetok. She then joined TG 30.8, the fleet oiler and transport group established to support the 3d Fleet. The ship stood out of Eniwetok on 26 August with several oilers and arrived at Seeadler Harbor on the 31st. She spent the next three months with various units of the group as it provided fuel, mail, and planes for TF 38. They first operated in the vicinity of Palau and Yap when the carriers struck west of the Carolines. TG 30.8 then moved to Ulithi as the carriers shifted their strikes westward to the Philippines and Formosa.
Thatcher then joined TG 38.3 for operations in the Philippine Islands. On 14, 15, and 16 December, the carriers launched strikes against Luzon to support the landings on Mindoro. The group retired to refuel, but the rapidly falling barometer indicated a typhoon approaching. Thatcher was fueled to 50% capacity before the hoses parted due to rough seas. The task force attempted to steam out of the danger area but was near the center of the storm on the 17th and 18th. Three United States destroyers were lost. When the weather cleared and the fleet reassembled, Thatcher joined TG 30.8, a supply group, and served with it until 7 January 1945.
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