and sailed to Tunis, where, her part in "Operation Husky" completed, she prepared for Operation Avalanche, the assault at Salerno. Supporting invasion of Italy operations Sailing with TF 81 on 7 September, she was in the Gulf of Salerno, standing off the landing beaches at Paestum, by 0100 on the 9th. She remained in the area, conducting firefighting, salvage, repair, and fueling operations in spite of frequent air raids, until 4 November, when she departed for Bizerte. Thence, she followed the African coast to Algiers for availability and salvage work in that area. On 11 February 1944, Moreno sailed back to Bizerte where she received towing assignments which took her to Taranto, Malta, and Naples. From 6 April through 27 July, Moreno, now ATF 87 (effective 15 May), was employed in convoy work from Naples and Palermo to Bizerte, shuttling damaged LCTs south, and those in good repair north. She then steamed to Algiers, and from there, to Corsica and various Italian ports before arriving at Palermo to prepare for "Operation Dragoon", the invasion of southern France. Invasion of southern France operations Departing Palermo on 7 August, she proceeded first to Naples and then to Ajaccio, where, on the 13th, she joined convoy 89.1 and sailed for St. Raphael. On the 15th, she was off Green Beach providing services similar to those performed at Licata and Paestum. On the 18th, she shifted to the Gulf of St. Tropez, remaining there until 9 October. From southern France, Moreno returned to Palermo for availability and then commenced towing and escort services between various points in Italy, Corsica, France, and north Africa. On 7 March 1945, she took in tow and headed for Odessa, where the latter's cargo, food, clothing and medicine, was off loaded for distribution to American soldiers recently released from German POW camps by Red Army units. Returning Stateside Moreno, with Tackle, returned to Oran on 13 April, only to depart, again with Tackle in tow, three days later for the Azores. The two vessels were engaged in repair work until 6 May, when they joined convoy GUS 87 and steamed west. Arriving at Norfolk on 18 May, Moreno entered the Norfolk Navy Yard for a brief overhaul. On 5 July, she got underway for Charleston, South Carolina, where she took ARDC-11 and an Army tug in tow. Transfer to the Pacific Fleet Leaving the Army vessel in Panama, Moreno