Late on 4 January 1945, while Orestes was in a Mindoro-bound convoy designated "Uncle plus 15" with 30 patrol torpedo boats (PT boats) and 50 other vessels, Japanese planes made life tenuous. On 30 December 1944, an Aichi D3A "Val" dive bomber came in low on the starboard side and crashed into Orestes amidships, causing heavy damage and killing 45 members of her crew. In a series of sweeps by boat PT-350, commanded by Lieutenant Thomas A. Dent (USNR), about 70 men were rescued from the burning Orestes. Fifteen more were plucked from the sea. Lieutenant Dent was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism in the saving of the lives of American Naval personnel in action. Accompanying landing craft infantry (LCIs) finally brought the resulting fires under control and Orestes was beached. Landing ship tank USS LST-708 later towed Orestes back to Leyte on 27 January 1945, and after temporary repairs Orestes departed Leyte on 24 February 1945 on a slow voyage back to the United States, arriving at Terminal Island, California, on 13 May 1945. There shipyard personnel went to work and 202,500 man-hours of labor later they had completely rejuvenated Orestes.
Orestes departed the United States on a second trip to the Pacific war zone on 8 August 1945, but the war with Japan ended on 15 August 1945 and the Japanese surrender had been formalized (on 2 September 1945) by the time she reached Guinan Harbor, Samar, in the Philippines. Orestes served under the Commander Motor Torpedo Boats, Philippine Sea Frontier, until 17 December 1945, when she sailed eastward with naval passengers for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the United States, arriving at San Pedro, California, on 3 February 1946.
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