After a second shakedown in the Caribbean and training along the East Coast, "Hambleton" escorted a convoy to Oran in April 1944, and began to prepare for her role in the Normandy invasion. Operating in the Western Mediterranean with seven other destroyers and British scout planes, she sank the on 17 May after an intensive 4-day pursuit of the German marauder. From the Mediterranean "Hambleton" sailed to Plymouth, England, staging area for the epochal invasion. She escorted a large convoy of LSTs to the landing areas on 7 June, D-Day plus 1, and remained off Omaha Beach for critical shore bombardment and screening duties. In the early morning hours of 9 June, "Hambleton"s radar picked up several contacts, soon determined to be Nazi E-boats. Her guns blazing, "Hambleton" set out after the enemy. In a 4-hour running gun battle, she sank one and severely damaged another of the five German boats. After returning for provisions at Portland, England, "Hambleton" was back on the line for the Bombardment of Cherbourg 25 June.