Gazelle sailed from Wilmington on 9 January 1944 for Pearl Harbor, where she was assigned to Rear Admiral Turner's Southern Attack Force for the imminent assault on Kwajalein.

Underway with the task force 28 January, she entered Kwajalein Lagoon on 2 February 1944 and began fueling operations in the midst of the furious fighting.

For two weeks she fueled combatant ships, including battleships New Mexico (BB-40), Mississippi (BB-23), Idaho (BB-42), many cruisers, escort carriers, and smaller warships.

Gazelle escaped damage when Japanese midget submarines penetrated the harbor net and patrol defenses at Ulithi on 20 November and sank oiler Mississinewa, moored 2,000 yards (1,800 m) away.

Sometime during this period, the Gazelle encountered a typhoon, keeling so far over she almost sank, according to Jere Hamill, one of the ship's officers (in an oral interview with Bruce Edlen, April, 2010).