with units of the British 78th Infantry Division for Bône, close to the front line. On the return trip to Algiers she was repeatedly attacked by German aircraft, but made port without damage. Queen Emma, her sister ship Princess Beatrix, and the former Burn & Laird Lines ships and became known as the "Moonlight Squadron" for their preference for operating at night. After the fall of Tunis in May 1943 the ships received a special commendation from the Allied Army Commanders and a letter from the British Admiral Andrew Cunningham, the commander in chief of the western Mediterranean. Invasion of Sicily Queen Emma was then attached to the ships of Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. The British sector was greatly hampered by severe German air attacks, and on 17 July 1943 the Queen Emma was hit, with 18 killed and 70 wounded. The ship sailed to Malta for repairs. Her speed had been reduced to , so she was downgraded to troop transport vessel. After the Italian capitulation on 8 September 1943 she escorted units of the Italian fleet to Malta, and soon afterwards sailed back to England for a complete overhaul. Invasion of France Queen Emma then began landing exercises in preparation for Operation Overlord, the invasion of France. On 6 June 1944 Queen Emma sailed with Canadian troops to Normandy. The ship was part of the transport group of the Eastern Naval Task Force under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Chandler. In the weeks after D-Day Queen Emma completed numerous voyages between England and the French coast, carrying men of the U.S. 8th Air Force, and a number of British Guards Divisions, as well as units of the English ATS and Wrens, despite the danger of German coastal batteries, E-boats and midget submarines. At the end of 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge Queen Emma helped transport the British 6th Airborne Division from England to France as reinforcements. It would be her last European mission. She had crossed the North Sea 43 times, sailing approximately 20,000 miles and had transported 30,000 Allied troops. Indian Ocean Queen Emma was decommissioned to be adapted for service in tropical waters at Harland & Wolff at Belfast. The works were completed on 29 March 1945, and on 5 May Queen Emma sailed with Convoy KMF-44 for India, arriving at Bombay on the 26th. Queen Emma remained in India until the