The battalion played a key role in blunting the northern flank of the German attack during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.

All four companies had their own maintenance section, which included an M32 Tank Recovery Vehicle, built on a Sherman chassis.

[3] The battalion criss-crossed the country as it moved from one training station to another developing its maneuver and gunnery skills.

From there, the battalion moved to the embarkation station at Camp Shanks, and boarded the Capetown Castle,[6] departing New York on 20 October 1943 and arriving at Liverpool, England[7] on 2 November 1943.

[12] Only two of the launched DD tanks reached the beach; another three were carried ashore when their LCT was unable to lower its ramp at sea.

The tankers practiced with infantry and engineers at the platoon and tank/squad level for the remainder of June to perfect their techniques in working together.

Hill 192, the dominant terrain east of St. Lô, had to be taken in order for the American forces to liberate St. Lõ and establish an organized front line from which to launch Operation Cobra.

On 26 July, the 2nd Infantry Division, with the 741st Tank Battalion continuing to provide direct fire support, advanced slowly, anchoring the left flank of the main assault of Operation Cobra, which took place to the west of St. Lõ.

By now battle-seasoned veterans, tankers from the battalion resisted repeated numerous hard-pressed attacks by spearheading elements of the SS-heavy Sixth Panzer Army from 16 to 19 December.

On 19 December, elements of the battalion were the rear guard of an orderly withdrawal from Rocherath-Krinkelt to positions behind Wirtzfeld to the west and northwest.

[28] The resistance put up by the 2nd Infantry Division, along with the attached tanks and tank destroyers, thwarted the northern penetration of the German offensive, delaying their advance by three days, and caused them to side step to a less suitable road network, allowing allied reinforcements to prepare positions further to the west with which to blunt the attack.

Beginning on 15 January 1945, the battalion was gradually recommitted to combat operations in support of the 2nd Infantry Division as it once again began advancing eastward into Germany.

The battalion's tanks transported lead elements of the division some 200 miles from 1–3 May 1945 all the way to the Czech border, and had reached Plzeň, Czechoslovakia, by 6 May, two days before hostilities ended on 8 May.