Shifting her operations to the Mediterranean, "Harding" sailed on 1 August for Oran, Algeria, and from there proceeded to the southern France assault area, as a screening ship. She sailed almost immediately to Corsica, later returning to take up patrol station outside the assault area in southern France. On the night of 17 August, she detected a downed German plane, and after recovering bodies, proceeded to investigate an unidentified contact. As "Harding"s signalman sought to illuminate the stranger, a burst of machine-gun fire extinguished the light and revealed the presence of four E-boats.