Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - Daga Norfolk, Virginia 9 Oktoba 1943, "Cotten" ya isa Pearl Harbor 31 Oktoba. A nan sai ta shiga cikin 5th Fleet, kuma a ranar 10 ga watan Nuwamba ya tashi don mamaye tsibirin Gilbert Islands, yana nuna masu ɗaukar jiragen ruwa da ke ba da tallafin iska da kuma yin sintiri a kan jiragen ruwa a Tarawa. Komawa zuwa Pearl Harbor a ranar 7 ga Janairu, 1944, ta yi tafiya tare da babbar Fast Carrier Task Force (to, TF 58, daga baya 3rd Fleet's TF 38) a ranar 16 ga Janairu don hare-haren iska a kan Marshalls a ranar 29 da 30 ga Janairu. An kafa shi a Majuro, "Cotten" ya shiga cikin harin Truk na 16 da 17 Fabrairu; ya goyi bayan saukowa a tsibirin Emirau
; kuma ya duba masu jigilar jiragen sama yayin da suka kaddamar da hare-hare a Palau, Yap, Ulithi da Woleai tsakanin 30 ga Maris da 1 ga Afrilu. Ci gaba da nunawa, ta shiga cikin aikin Hollandia daga ranar 21 zuwa 24 ga Afrilu da hare-haren iska a kan Truk, Satawan, da Ponape tsakanin 29 ga Afrilu da 1 ga Mayu.