She sortied with her group for the first time on 30 December, bound for the areas from which the carriers launched strikes against Japanese bases on Formosa and Luzon in preparation for the assault on Lingayen Gulf beaches.

Continuing to neutralize Japanese airfields the force moved on to strike at targets in Indochina, on the South China coast, and on Okinawa before returning to Ulithi 26 January 1945.

While Franklin was badly damaged in these attacks, Sperry and other escorts furnished effective antiaircraft fire which pre vented further harm to the force, and she shared in splashing several Japanese planes.

Close air support was provided by TF 38 as the invasion began on 1 April 1945, and Sperry served as plane guard and radar picket for her force.

When Hancock and Bunker Hill fell victim to kamikazes, Sperry stood by them, aiding in damage control, and rescuing men from the water.

The destroyer remained in San Pedro Bay, Philippines, from 1 June to 1 July, and then sailed to support the carriers as they launched the final air strikes at the Japanese home islands.

For the next year, she remained at Boston with a reduced crew, and in March 1947, reported at New Orleans for duty as a training ship for members of the Naval Reserve until July 1950.

On 23 December, while firing at Songjin, she was hit by three shells returned by an enemy shore battery, but suffered no casualties, and only minor damage, which was repaired at Sasebo early in January 1951.

Midshipmen cruises and North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercises took her to northern European ports on several occasions, some of them in coordination with her Mediterranean deployments.