By the end of the month, she had brought up another convoy, and Palermo had fallen. In August, she began escorting ships to that port. As the ships offloaded, she added her armament to that protecting the harbor and covering the push to Messina. By mid-month, she had completed a second Bizerte-Palermo run; and, on the 17th, as Messina fell, she was caught in an air raid and took a small shell or small fragmentation bomb near the after 3-inch gun. Eight of her crew were injured; but, by the 19th, she was back at Palermo, whence she proceeded to Licata, Bizerte, and then to Mers El Kébir to prepare for the invasion of the Italian mainland at Salerno.