During heavy air attacks the night of the 8th McKee's 20 mm guns splashed two enemy planes, the second after it had released a torpedo which passed beneath the ship.

Refueling at Florida Island 10 November she guarded carriers for a successful air strike against the Japanese stronghold at Rabaul, New Britain.

The destroyer next covered the initial landings on Humboldt Bay, New Guinea on 23 April, and then escorted resupply convoys to the various beachheads of the Hollandia operation.

On 10 January 1945, she sailed for Ulithi where she joined the Fast Carrier Task Force (then TF 58) on 7 February for strikes against the Japanese home islands.

The task force's planes struck Tokyo on 16, 17, and 25 February, hitting Iwo Jima in between, in raids so destructive and successful that the enemy failed to retaliate against the carriers or their screen.

They returned a month later for strikes, beginning on 18 March, against Kyūshū to reduce airborne resistance to the Okinawa landings set for 1 April.

This raid encountered much resistance as kamikazes managed to penetrate the combat air patrol and antiaircraft fire to reach the formation.

This time, McKee found pilots to rescue, numbers of live targets for her antiaircraft guns, and submarine contacts for two depth charge runs.

On the 30th, along with six other destroyers, she made the closest penetration of Japanese home waters up to that time as they swept into Suruga Wan to shell an aluminum plant and railroad yards at Shimizu, Honshū.

Despite the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and rumors of peace, airstrikes continued against the Tokyo area until 0900 15 August, when Japan capitulated.