 On 7 November, she proceeded to Great Sound, Bermuda where shakedown exercises were begun.On 9 December, she left for Charleston, South Carolina and 11 days of post-shakedown availability.After four days of training exercises for officers and her nucleus crew for new destroyer escorts in the Chesapeake Bay area, "Leopold" stood out of Thimble Shoal Channel on 24 December 1943 as part of Task Force 61 (TF 61), escorting convoy UGS-68 to the Mediterranean.