At the end of the month she joined the fast carriers (then 5th Fleet's Task Force 58, later 3rd Fleet's TF 38), getting underway with them 8 February. Speeding north, they struck at Honshū in mid-February. Next, setting a southerly course, they supported the Iwo Jima campaign and then, in March returned to the Japanese home islands for further strikes. Throughout April and May they provided support for the troops fighting on Okinawa as they struck at enemy military and industrial targets from Formosa to Kyūshū. Replenishing in the Philippines in early June, they extended their range northward again and by 1 July were headed for objectives on Honshū, Hokkaidō and the Kuriles.
