 "Saranac" departed San Pedro on 6 September and joined an underway replenishment group at Purvis Bay, on arrival, on the 28 September.After three sorties from that port to fuel fleet units, she shifted her base to Kossol Roads, Palau, on 19 October in preparation for the amphibious invasion of the Gulf of Leyte in the Philippines.She departed the next day and fueled ships in the transport anchorage off Leyte from 23 to 27 October.