for the Army transport George Washington. Seeing that ship safely to her destination, Key West, Florida on 1 December, the destroyer proceeded to Charleston, arriving there on the 3rd for upkeep. She steamed from there to Casco Bay, Maine, and refresher training, before she headed back to Norfolk, arriving at that port on the last day of the year 1943. 1944 Alden sailed for North African waters on 5 January 1944, in an antisubmarine group formed around . On 16 January, a pair of Grumman TBF Avengers from Guadalcanals Composite Squadron 13 (VC-13) caught a pair of U-boats on the surface, rendezvousing near the Azores, and attacked, sinking before she could transfer radar detection gear to . Reaching Casablanca on 26 January, the task unit sailed for the United States three days later, and reached Norfolk on 16 February. Shifting to the Boston Navy Yard for repairs and alterations soon afterwards, Alden returned to Norfolk on 12 March. The destroyer sailed the following day for Tunisia as one of the 16 escort vessels shepherding convoy UGS-36, 72 merchantmen and 18 tank landing ships. Escort vessels drove off what was believed to be a U-boat late on 31 March, and six hours later, early on 1 April, 22 German aircraft attacked UGS-36. Alden, in the rear guard, aided the defense of the convoy, as the escorts shot down two enemy aircraft and probably damaged two others. Ultimately, UGS-36 reached its destination, Bizerte, on 3 April. Nine days later, Alden sailed for the United States, reaching Hampton Roads on 1 May. Following a brief availability at the Boston Navy Yard, Alden departed Boston, Massachusetts on 27 May for New York, reporting for duty under Commander, Service Force, Atlantic Fleet, soon after. She then operated out of Norfolk during June, principally on local escort duty. During this time, she screened during a phase of that new battleship's shakedown training. Following emergency repairs to a damaged propeller, Alden resumed escort operations, this time with , as she convoyed the ship from Norfolk to Baytown to Galveston, thence to Guantanamo Bay and back to Galveston, before she escorted the oiler on a trip from Galveston to Bermuda, Casco Bay and Norfolk. Undergoing routine maintenance at the Norfolk Navy Yard upon conclusion of this duty in August 1944, Alden escorted from Norfolk to Bermuda before the destroyer then convoyed and from Norfolk to the Canal Zone.