conducted training exercises until 7 July 1941, when she got underway for Naval Station Argentia in the Dominion of Newfoundland, where she arrived on 11 July 1941. Between 11 July 1941 and 10 March 1942 she patrolled between Argentia and Halifax, Nova Scotia, and escorted convoys to Reykjavík, Iceland, and Derry, Northern Ireland. From 1 April 1942 to 3 October, Dallas escorted coastal shipping from New York and Norfolk, Virginia to Florida, Texas, Cuba, Bermuda, and ports in the Caribbean. On 25 October she cleared Norfolk to rendezvous with Task Force 34 bound for the Operation Torch amphibious landings in North Africa. Dallas was to carry a U.S. Army Raider battalion, and land them up the narrow, shallow, obstructed Sebou River to take a strategic airfield near Port Lyautey, French Morocco. On 10 November 1942 she began her run up the river under the guidance of Rene Malevergne, a civilian pilot who would later become the first foreign civilian to receive the Navy Cross. Under cannon and small arms fire throughout her voyage up the river, she plowed her way through mud and shallow water, narrowly missing many sunken ships and other obstructions, and sliced through a cable crossing the river to land her troops safely just off the airfield. Her outstanding success in completing this mission with its many unexpected complications won her the Presidential Unit Citation. On 15 November 1942, she departed the African coast for Boston, Massachusetts, arriving there 26 November 1942. Dallas had convoy duty between Norfolk, New York, and New London, Connecticut — also making one voyage to Gibraltar from 3 March to 14 April 1943 — until 9 May 1943, when she departed Norfolk for Oran, Algeria, arriving there on 23 May 1943. She patrolled off the North African coast, then on 9 July 1943 joined Task Force 81 for screening duty during the Battle of Gela from 10 to 12 July during Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily. She returned to convoy and patrol duties until 7 September 1943, when she joined the escort for a convoy bound for the amphibious landings on the mainland of Italyin Operation Avalanche. Dallas screened the transport group during the landings at Salerno on 9 September 1943, and joined a southbound convoy on 11 September 1943, rescuing two downed British airmen on her way to Oran. She escorted reinforcements to Salerno, then served on escort and