The Tasker H. Bliss arrived with Evans and its crew in Norfolk, Virginia to join Task Force 34 on September 22, 1942. They headed out with this Task Force towards Morocco on October 25, 1942. The USS Tasker H. Bliss was on a mission with Task Group 34.9. They arrived at Fedala, Morocco on November 8, 1942 and participated in Operation Torch, which was the invasion of North Africa.
Operation Torch was an invasion of Casablanca in North Africa, then belonging to the Vichy France, a puppet government of Germany, where the United States sent in 65 thousand troops commanded by Lt. General Dwight D. Eisenhower. The strategy almost immediately succeeded at the operational level as the Germans did not modernize the Vichy France forces in North Africa, making this invasion very easy for the United States. Unfortunately for the Americans, however, the heavy Atlantic waters combined with the Vichy France efforts of defense made for rough landings for American ships, with one fleet losing 18 of its 25 ships.