For six months USS BAILEY, flagship for Destroyer Squadron 14 (Desron 14), operated as a component of task group assemblages patrolling the rugged waters of the Aleutian Islands. On 12 January 1943 BAILEY and TG 18.6 provided cover for Army troops landing on the beaches of Amchitka during the first attempt to eradicate enemy forces from Alaskan soil. The Amchitka landings presented no enemy opposition and patrols were generally uneventful until the morning of 26 March 1943. Early that morning while on patrol with TG 16.6 to the south of the Russian owned Komandorski Islands contact was made with a numerically superior Japanese force making a supply run to forces on Attu. During the almost four hour running battle that followed heavy cruisers USS SALT LAKE CITY CA-25 and USS RICHMOND CL-8 exchanged hundreds of rounds with Japanese cruisers HIMJS NACHI CA-5, HIMJS MAYA CA-12, HIMJS TAMA CL-4 and HIMJS ABUKUMA CL-13 at long range and both received damage SALT LAKE CITY taking the brunt of it and becoming dead in the water from water fouling in her fuel storage. In defense of the cruisers destroyer USS BAILEY DD-492, USS COGHLAN DD-606, USS DALE DD-353, USS MONAGHAN DD-354 laid an effective smoke screen so the Japanese did not know that the damage to the Salt Lake City had brought her speed to zero, had they realized this chances are they would have attempted to finish her off right along with the rest of TG 16.6. The screen accomplished BAILEY, COGHALAN and DALE and were ordered by Desron 14 Commander McMorris to turn and deliver a torpedo attack, MONAGHAN remaining with the cruisers. The turn to attack put BAILEY at the head of the destroyer line and the attack was on. The destroyers delivered highly accurate 5” rifle fire on opposing Japanese Cruisers during the run scoring many hits and BAILEY distinguished herself by being the only destroyer to get close enough to deliver her five torpedoes. At a distance of around 9500 yards she began to pay the price for this bold move by taking point blank hits from the enemy cruisers 8" rifles one of which killed five and wounded many more. The effort paid high dividends however, getting low on ammunition after several long range duels with Salt Lake City and Richmond and increasingly concerned about the arrival of American bombers by the aggressive torpedo attack was enough to convince the Japanese to stop the battle and retire home without delivering any troops or supplies to their forces at Attu or Kiska. No aircraft or submarines were involved in The Battle of the Komandorski Islands and it is widely considered to be the last all gun battle between surface ships in United States naval history.