Through the 9th she screened the transports. On the 10th, she patrolled off Casablanca and participated in action against Vichy ships attempting to turn back the invasion. On the 11th, she resumed screening in the transport area, and on the 12th she got underway to return to the United States. Between December 1942 and April 1943, "Rowan" escorted two reinforcement and resupply convoys to Casablanca. On the second trip out, UGS-6, five merchantmen were lost to a "wolfpack" in 4 days, 13 to 17 March. On March 16 she scuttled the "Benjamin Harrison" at 21:30, with gunfire. In May the destroyer completed her last transatlantic run. At the end of the month she joined TF 80 at Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria, and for the next month conducted ASW patrols and escorted convoys along the North African coast. On 10 July, the invasion of Sicily began. On the 14th "Rowan" arrived off the coast in the screen of a reinforcement convoy and commenced patrols off Gela. After the 20th, she shifted around to the northern shore and assumed patrol and escort work in the Palermo area. On the 26th she added shore bombardment, against enemy positions between Cefalù and Stefano di Camastra, and into August she supported the "leap frog" landings along the coast. She then returned to North Africa to prepare for the landings on the Italian mainland at Salerno. On 9 September, "Rowan" entered the Gulf of Salerno in the screen of the Southern Attack Force. That day and the next as the assault force and supplies were landed at Paestum, she screened the transports and freighters. Late on the night of the 10th, she headed back to Oran with the emptied ships. Shortly after midnight, German E-boats attacked. "Rowan" pursued and fired, then, as her quarry pulled away, ceased firing and changed course to rejoin the convoy. Within 5 minutes a new contact was made, range less than 3,000 yards. Again she changed course, to avoid torpedoes and bring her guns into position. As the range decreased to 2,000 yards, "Rowan" was hit by a torpedo by a German E-boat. She sank in less than a minute, taking 202 of her 273 officers and men with her. Those whose bodies were not recovered, were listed as ‘missing in action’ for a year and a day after the sinking.