30 June and there, Task Group 120.6 under Admiral Deyo on Tuscaloosa was formed consisting of the transports and most of Task Force 129. They sailed on 4 July and arrived at Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria, 11 July 1944, and for a month after, performed convoy duties to and from Taranto, Italy. The landing areas for Operation Dragoon the invasion of Southern France and the last major amphibious operation of the European theater, were designated "Alpha", "Delta" and "Camel" from west to east, covering three sets of beaches along the Provence Coast between Hyeres and Cannes. The Western Naval Task Force was formed under the command of Vice Admiral Hewitt to carry the U.S. 6th Army Group, also known as the Southern Group or Dragoon Force onto the shore. Joining Rear Admiral Bertram J. Rodgers' Delta Assault Force, Task Group 85.12 was the gunfire support group for the central invasion force under Rear Admiral Bryant on Texas. It consisted of the American battleships Texas and Nevada; light cruiser and French light cruisers Georges Leygues, and Montcalm; the surviving eight destroyers of DesRon 10 (Destroyer Unit 85.12.4), Ellyson, Rodman, Emmons, Forrest, Fitch, Hambleton, Macomb, and Hobson; French destroyers La Fantasque, Le Terrible, Le Malin, and four gun support craft, which sailed from Taranto at 1400 on 11 August 1944. "H-hour" was set for 0800 on 15 August. Early on 15 August 1944, Hobson acted as spotter for Nevada and her preliminary bombardment from the Baie de Bougnon. As troops stormed ashore at Delta Beach (Le Muy, Saint-Tropez), Hobson provided direct fire support with her own batteries. By 0815, the bombardment had destroyed enemy defenses and Major General William W. Eagles' famed "Thunderbirds" of the 45th Infantry Division landed without opposition. Hobson remained in the assault area until the next evening, arriving at Palermo on 17 August 1944 to take up Mediterranean convoy duty. As the Allied offensive in Europe gained momentum, Hobson steamed as a convoy escort between Algeria, Italy, and France protecting vital supplies and troops. In the early morning darkness of 2 October 1944, Hobson was standing out from Marseilles, France, during a violent gale, when her spotters observed distress calls from well inside an unswept area of the German- mined harbor. It was soon established that a liberty ship, the S.S. Johns Hopkins, moving to an anchorage after returning from Oran, Algeria, with 600 troops embarked, had struck a mine