departing san francisco 18 december, "hercules" reached noumea, new caledonia, 6 january 1943 to discharge her cargo. she returned to san francisco 20 february and repeated the voyage from 11 march to 5 july. "hercules" sailed for pearl harbor 6 august and reached hawaii 6 days later. as flagship for admiral willis a. lee, ctf 11, she sailed for action 25 august and on 1 september was off baker island as the army began occupation. remaining off baker island until 16 september discharging cargo, "hercules" returned to pearl harbor and from there sailed for san francisco.