 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.