On 11 April 1942, the Montgomery left Hawaii and spent the next 16 months operating from Suva, Espiritu Santo, and Noumea for escorting and minelaying operations in the Southwest Pacific. She also assisted in the struggle to take over the Solomons.
One interruption was from 22 September to 12 November, when she sailed north to lay mines in the Aleutians in preparation for the recapture of Attu and Kiska.
While laying a minefield off Guadalcanal on the night of 24-25 August 1943, the Montgomery collided with the USS Preble (DD-345) and lost 20 feet of her bow. Temporary repairs were made at Tulagi and Espiritu Santo before sailing to San Francisco on October.
Repairs completed, the Montgomery then began ten months of activity which included two escort voyages between San Francisco and Hawaii, defensive minelaying around Kwajalein and two more convoys.
--GreGen
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