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.