List of Allied warships in the Normandy landings
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This is a list of warships which took part in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944.
Contents
Battleships
Seven battleships took part: four British and three US:
- USS Arkansas, eastern Omaha Beach (Wyoming class, 26,100 tons, main armament: 12 - 12"/50 cal. guns) primarily in support of the US 29th Infantry Division.
- USS Nevada, Utah Beach (damaged and beached to avoid sinking at Pearl Harbor, Nevada class, 29,000 tons, main armament: 10 - 14"/45 cal. guns).
- HMS Nelson (1925, Nelson class, 38,000 tons, main armament: nine 16 inch guns). Held in reserve until June 10.
- HMS Ramillies (1915, Revenge class, 33,500 tons, main armament: eight 15-inch guns).
- HMS Rodney (1925, Nelson class, 38,000 tons, main armament: nine 16 inch guns).
- USS Texas, western Omaha Beach (New York class, 27,000 tons, main armament: 10 - 14"/45 cal. guns, Flagship of Rear Admiral C.F. Bryant) primarily in support of the US 1st Infantry Division.
- HMS Warspite (1913, Queen Elizabeth class, 35,000 tons, main armament six 15-inch guns).
Heavy cruisers
Five heavy cruisers (main guns of 8 inches) took part, three from the United States and two from Britain, HMS Hawkins had been re-armed with 6 inch guns and HMS Frobisher's main gun armament had been reduced from seven to four single mounted 7.5 inch guns.
- USS Augusta (Flagship of Rear Admiral Alan Kirk - Lt. General Omar Bradley embarked)
- HMS Frobisher
- HMS Hawkins
- USS Quincy
- USS Tuscaloosa
Light cruisers
17 British light cruisers took part along with two of the Free French navy, and one of the Polish navy. All carried either 6 or 5.25 inch guns of varying numbers.
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- HMS Argonaut
- HMS Ajax
- HMS Arethusa
- HMS Belfast (Flagship of Rear Admiral Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton)
- HMS Bellona
- HMS Black Prince
- HMS Capetown
- HMS Ceres (Flagship of U.S. Service Force)
- HMS Danae
- HMS Diadem
- ORP Dragon (Polish, damaged in July and then used as a blockship in "Gooseberry" breakwater)
- HMS Emerald
- HMS Enterprise
- Georges Leygues (Free French)
- HMS Glasgow
- HMS Mauritius (Flagship of Rear Admiral Patterson)
- Montcalm (Free French, Flagship of Rear Admiral Jaujard)
- HMS Orion
- HMS Scylla (Admiral Vian's flagship, mined and seriously damaged, out of action until after the war)
- HMS Sirius In reserve until June 10
Destroyers and escorts
135 ships (eighty-five British and Dominion, 39 US, 7 Free French and 7 other Allied):
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- HMCS Alberni
- HMCS Algonquin (Canadian)
- USS Amesbury
- USS Baldwin
- USS Barton
- HMS Bleasdale
- HMS Boadicea (torpedoed and sunk 13 June)
- HMCS Cape Breton (Canadian)
- USS Carmick
- HMS Cattistock
- HMCS Chaudiere (Canadian)
- USS Corry (sunk during the invasion)
- HMS Cottesmore
- USS Doyle
- HMS Eglinton
- HMS Faulknor
- USS Frankford
- HMS Fury (mined 21 June and not repaired)
- USS Glennon (hit by mine 8 June, sunk by German artillery 10 June)
- HNoMS Glaisdale (Norwegian)
- HMS Grenville
- USS Harding
- USS Hobson
- HMS Jervis
- HMS Kelvin
- HMS Kempenfelt
- HMCS Kitchener (Canadian)
- ORP Krakowiak, (Polish, former HMS Silverton)
- La Combattante (Free French, former HMS Haldon)
- USS Laffey
- HMS Loyalty
- USS Maloy
- USS McCook
- HMS Melbreak
- HMS Middleton
- USS Murphy
- USS O'Brien
- HMS Pytchley
- HMCS Regina
- USS Rich (sunk by mines 10 June)
- USS Satterlee
- HMS Saumarez
- HMS Scorpion
- HMS Scourge
- HMS Serapis
- HMCS Sioux (Canadian)
- ORP Slazak (Polish)
- HMS Stevenstone
- HNoMS Stord (Norwegian)
- HNoMS Svenner (Norwegian, hit by German torpedo and sunk off Normandy at dawn, 6 June)[1]
- HMS Swift (mined and sunk 24 June 1944 off Normandy)
- HMS Talybont
- HMS Tanatside
- USS Thompson
- HMS Ulster
- HMS Ulysses
- HMS Undaunted
- HMS Undine
- HMS Urania
- HMS Urchin
- HMS Ursa
- HMS Venus
- HMS Verulam
- HMS Vigilant
- HMS Virago
- HMS Wanderer
- HMS Wallflower
- HMS Whimbrel
- HMS Wrestler (damaged by a mine and not repaired)
- RHN Kriezis Royal Hellenic Navy (Flower Class Corvette -ex HMS Coreopsis)
- RHN Tobazis Royal Hellenic Navy (Flower Class Corvette -ex HMS Tamarisk)
Troop Transports
- USS Samuel Chase, attack transport. Operated by the US Coast Guard
- USS Charles Carroll attack transport
- USS Bayfield, attack transport
Other warships
508 ships (352 British, 154 US and 2 other Allied):
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- HMS Bulolo, Landing Ship Headquarters (LSH) for Gold Beach carrying tri-service commanders and staff
- HMS Centurion, old battleship sunk as a blockship in "Gooseberry" breakwater
- Courbet, Free Naval French Forces, old battleship sunk as a blockship in "Gooseberry" breakwater
- HMCS Cowichan, Canadian minesweeper
- HMS Dacres, Captain class frigate converted to act as a headquarters ship
- HMS Durban (light cruiser used as a blockship in "Gooseberry" breakwater)
- HMS Erebus, monitor 2 - 15 inch guns
- HNLMS Flores, Dutch gunboat
- HMS Hilary, H.Q. ship for Juno Beach carrying tri-service commanders and staff
- HMS Kingsmill, Captain class frigate converted to act as a headquarters ship
- HMS Largs, H.Q. ship for Sword Beach carrying tri-service commanders and staff
- HNLMS Soemba, Dutch gunboat
- HMS Lawford, Captain class frigate converted to act as a headquarters ship (bombed and sunk)
- HNoMS Nordkapp, Icelandic patrol boat
- HMS Roberts, monitor 2 - 15 inch guns
- HNMLS Sumatra (Dutch, decommissioned due to crew shortages and losing her guns to HNMLS Flores and Soemba, used as blockship in "Gooseberry" breakwater)
The British 9th and 159th minesweeping flotillas and U.S. 7th Minesweeping Squadron provided minesweeping protection. A distant anti-submarine screen to the operation was provided by HMS Onslow, Offa, Onslaught, Oribi, Melbreak and Brissenden. Additional protection from E-boats was provided by various Motor Gun Boat flotillas.
See also
Notes and references
- ↑ Investigations indicate that the Svenner may have been hit by an early version of a German anti-shipping missile (possibly a Fritz X), instead of the more usual attribution of a torpedo from the German large torpedo boast Jaguar or Mowe or T-28 based at Le Havre. There have also been reports of German bombers releasing long, torpedo-like bombs, but from a very long distance, no way near firing-range. The most likely, though, is that it was hit by a torpedo, but accounts point in either direction.
