 The damage was enough to warrant an immediate return to Truk for emergency repairs, and a return to Yokosuka by mid-September, where she remained to the end of the year.On 1 December 1943, "Tsugaru" was reassigned to the Third Southern Expeditionary Fleet.On 24 March 1944, she deployed from Palau to mine the Balabac Strait in the Philippines, after which she was stationed at Balikpapan in Borneo.