 "Dakotan" departed Saint-Nazaire on 14 July in the company of her convoy mates "El Occidente", "Montanan", and "Edward Luckenbach".Joining the return trip were Army transport , Navy armed collier , Navy oiler , and cruiser , the flagship of Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves, the head of the Navy's Cruiser and Transport Force.Sources do not reveal "Dakotan"s movements over the next months, but on 6 September 1917, the Naval Armed Guardsmen aboard "Dakotan" shelled a German submarine after its periscope had been sighted.