The 6 June 1944 D-Day invasion was the world's largest naval operation, but the many markers and memorials that dot the Normandy landing beaches and nearby towns today give few clues that the U.S. Navy was ever there. A plaque to the 6th Naval Beach Battalion and a small marker to the U.S. Naval Reserve are about the only Navy memorials in the vicinity of Omaha and Utah beaches. Meanwhile, more than 60 area monuments, statues, and markers commemorate U.S. Army units, commanders, and soldiers.
The Naval Order of the United States learned that the Navy did not have a service-wide monument in Normandy almost by chance. Ray Pfeiffer, a member of the order whose company, Historic Tours, Inc., operates tours of World War II battlefields, mentioned it during a 2003 address to a Florida chapter of the organization. His audience was astonished. The scope of the oversight is enormous when one considers the Navy's contribution to the invasion and subsequent Normandy campaign.
Prelude to Invasion
The massive D-Day operation required a vast armada, and roughly 124,000 U.S. sailors assembled in England to take part in the campaign: 15,000 attached to combatant ships, 87,000 to landing craft, and 22,000 to naval bases and training sites. Many were Coast Guardsmen, but the great majority were Navy men.
Rear Admiral Alan G. Kirk, U.S. Navy, commanded the vessels of the Western Naval Task Force, which transported the American assault troops across the English Channel and supported their landings on Omaha and Utah beaches. Farther east, the Royal Navy was mainly responsible for the British and Canadian landings at three adjacent beaches, Gold, Juno, and Sword. The U.S. warships under Kirk's command included the USS Nevada (BB-36), his flagship, and two other battleships, Arkansas (BB-33) and Texas (BB-35); cruisers Tuscaloosa (CA-37), Quincy (CA-71), and Augusta (CA-31); 31 destroyers; 168 LSTs (landing ships, tank); and more than 1,600 other landing craft. The Navy suffered its first casualties the evening of 5 June, when the minesweeper Osprey (AM-56) struck a floating mine and sank with a loss of six crewmen.
At 0550 on 6 June, the warships opened fire on German coastal positions. For the first waves of U.S. soldiers making their way through rough seas in landing craft, mechanized (LCMs) and landing craft, vehicle personnel (LCVPs)-the fabled "Higgins boats"-the sensation of the battleships' guns firing behind them was awesome. Don Whitehead, a reporter with the Associated Press, recalled: "We headed for the beach, and I noticed that everyone in our boat appeared to be trembling violently. . . . And then I realized that the appearance of trembling was caused by the concussion from the big guns of the navy." Nine U.S. and three Royal Navy destroyers stationed 5,000 to 7,000 yards offshore pounded German defenses. Closer in, nine landing craft equipped with rockets unleashed their ordnance soon after the first waves of landing craft had passed them. Throughout the day, U.S. Navy ships shelled German targets along the coast and inland, as well as patrolled for German mines, torpedo boats, and U-boats.
The USS Corry (DD-463) was one of the warships charged with shelling enemy positions along Utah Beach. Chief Petty Officer Frank McKennon, U.S. Naval Reserve, whose battle station was on the Corry's bridge, recalled seeing flames spewing from the muzzles of the three 210-mm enemy guns of the Saint-Marcouf battery, well protected in casemates about a mile and a half inland.
As H-hour neared, the German battery's large shells bracketed the destroyer, and her captain ordered full speed and hard right rudder. "I suddenly heard a ripping, tearing sound coming from overhead," McKennon remembered. "Immediately, a jarring explosion ruptured the Corry amidships. Our 5-inch guns all swung around from the severe jolt. Men were thrown from their positions; some ended up in the water. . . . My guess: Saint-Marcouf's guns had found us." As it turned out, however, the ship had struck a German mine and soon sank.
The Omaha invasion plan called for 64 amphibious Sherman tanks-launched from 16 LCTs (landing craft, tank) 5,000 yards off the beach-to precede the first assault troops. Seven of the eight LCTs assigned to the eastern end of the beach disembarked their tanks as planned, and all of the vehicles promptly sank in the rough seas. But after taking note of the conditions, the commander of the western Omaha LCTs, Navy Lieutenant Dean L. Rockwell, decided to deliver his 32 tanks on the beach. He recalled:
As we moved through those last five thousand yards to Omaha Beach, quite a bit of machine-gun fire was splashing around us. In my mind I can still hear those bullets rattling off the steel sides of those LCTs. . . .On the right flank of the beach was a German 88-millimeter gun that was in a heavily fortified pillbox. . . . As soon as we closed the beach, the gun began firing at the LCTs. Two of my LCTs were hit; in one of them three men were killed and three others wounded. Fortunately, my own ship was at the extreme left flank of the landing area, farthest away from the 88, so we were not hit.
Lieutenant Rockwell's decision resulted in all 32 Shermans making it ashore, where they provided much-needed firepower and protection for the hard-pressed assault troops that began landing seconds after the tanks. Along Omaha, where a steep bluff overlooked the beach, casualties were nevertheless heavy.
Sailors' Service on the Beaches
Within minutes, Navy sailors were also landing. Naval Combat Demolition Units (NCDUs) had one of the most dangerous D-Day assignments: blasting pathways through the many German steel and timber beach obstructions with C-2 and tetrytol explosives and Primacord. While German shell fire and bullets were blasting landing craft, soldiers, and sailors, the demo teams had to flatten the obstructions, many of which bristled with mines, before the quickly rising tide hid them from incoming landing craft.
In describing the first hours on Omaha Beach, historian and U.S. Naval Reserve Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison noted:
The busiest people in this phase of the assault were the 16 [NCDUs] of seven sailors and five Army Engineers each. . . . One team was wiped out by an enemy salvo just as it landed. Another had its charge all set to blow when a direct hit set them off and killed every man but one. Before the flood tide, rising twelve inches every eight minutes, forced them to vacate, these brave men had blown five big channels and three partial ones through the hideous array of murderous obstacles.
Ensign Lawrence Karnowski, who commanded one of the Navy demolition teams, recalled:
We disembarked as two 88 shells dropped near our LCM, and [we] got busy tying charges to the obstacles. . . . The first [detonation], fired at 0650, went magnificently. Machine gun fire erupted, keeping us on our bellies. Chief Conrad C. Willis, couldn't resign himself to crawling and placing charges . . . so he took off with a roll of Primacord and placed several charges, but machine-gun fire cut him down, the only man I lost that day and best one I had.
The NCDUs incurred exceptionally high casualties. At Omaha, 31 naval demolition men were killed and 60 wounded-a 52% casualty rate. At less-well-defended Utah Beach, 6 were killed and 11 wounded. For their heroism, the Omaha Beach naval demolition teams earned a Presidential Unit Citation.
The 2nd, 6th, and 7th Naval Beach Battalions also landed on Omaha and Utah, where they functioned as traffic cops for the multitude of landing vessels as well as administered first aid and repaired minor boat malfunctions. In addition, sailors of the Naval Shore Fire Control Parties landed; their job was to direct the gunfire of the Navy warships.
Destroyers in Close
Along Omaha, the stiff German defense pinned down the first waves of assault troops. Heavy casualties suffered by fire-control parties and water damage to their radios hampered support fire from Allied warships. To the rescue sailed destroyers. Beginning at about 0800, the nine U.S. tin cans of the bombardment squadron began closing in and firing their 5-inch guns at targets of opportunity.
Captain Richard Zimermann, U.S. Navy (Retired), who was then a lieutenant in the USS Frankfort (DD-497), remembered that his ship got within 400 yards of the shore, so close that the destroyer's gunners could see the apertures of the concrete German pillboxes. "The object was to take a 5-inch shell and get it in there," he said. "All our destroyers were doing the same thing. . . . We were losing that battle, and the destroyers made a big difference."
In closing the shore, the ships ran the risk of grounding. Don Krebs was a sonarman third class manning the fathometer on the bridge of the Harding (DD-625) that morning. After supporting the U.S. Rangers at Pointe du Hoc, the destroyer was firing at targets in Vierville, behind western Omaha's Dog Green Beach, including the steeple of the town's church. Krebs recalled noticing that "it was getting shallower and shallower. . . . We were getting perilously close to the bottom, so I took it on my own intitiative to raise the sonar and fathometer gear." Harding soon ran aground. "Raising the gear sooner rather than later saved the equipment," Krebs said. "We lost part of both screws but got off the bottom."
The heavily defended draw, or exit, from Dog Green to Vierville was a key Allied objective and the target of gunners in the Texas, who landed six 14-inch rounds there, as well as in the McCook (DD-496). After the destroyer fired 16 rounds into the draw, 30 shaken Germans emerged from pillboxes and surrendered to U.S. beach engineers.
Throughout the day, coxswains, after delivering assault troops, took aboard their landing craft wounded soldiers and sailors and shuttled them to hospitals on board Navy ships. Some of the most seriously wounded were rushed to the close-in destroyers, the wardrooms and other areas of which became impromptu operating rooms.
That evening, when Major General Leonard T. Gerow set up his V Corps headquarters on Omaha Beach, his first message to Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley, the Army's operational commander on board Augusta, declared: "Thank God for the United States Navy." Reflecting on the invasion ten years later, Admiral Kirk said, "Our greatest asset was the resourcefulness of the American sailor."
Along the Normandy coast, that resourcefulness would be further tested in the weeks after D-Day, as Navy Construction Battalions built an artificial "Mulberry" harbor by sinking portable concrete caissons and blockships in place. Royal Engineers constructed a second Mulberry near the British sector of the coastline. The harbors, as well as the innovative LSTs-which could disgorge their cargo on the beaches-enabled the Allies to build up the supplies and troop strength to win the Normandy campaign and push the front line into Belgium by September.
Between 5 and 17 June, Navy losses included 148 landing craft, the troop transport Susan B. Anthony (AP-72), the destroyers Glennon (DD-620) and Meredith (DD-726), the destroyer escort Rich (DE-695), as well as the Osprey and Corry. All told, more than 1,000 U.S. sailors lost their lives over the course of the invasion.
Drive to Erect a Monument
Thanks to the Naval Order of the United States, plans are now afoot to assure that the courage of these and other U.S. Navy sailors who participated in and supported the D-Day invasion and subsequent campaign are commemorated with a suitable monument in Normandy. Stephen Spears, a sculptor from Fairhope, Alabama, volunteered to research and create a monument design at his own expense. His final design is composed of three realistic figures, each representing an element of the Navy's Normandy operation: planning and execution, implementation, and aftermath. On 11 January 2006, a bronze model of the statue was unveiled at the Surface Navy Association Symposium in Arlington, Virginia.
French authorities have earmarked a location at Utah Beach for placement of the final 12-foot-high bronze monument and given their assurance that they will maintain the monument in perpetuity as part of the Utah Beach Memorial Complex. The American Battle Monuments Commission has approved the monument's design and the plans to build, place, and maintain the statue in Normandy.
The Naval Order is now asking for your help to make the U.S. Navy Normandy Monument a reality. The task is to raise, through contributions from individuals, associations, and corporations, the $500,000 needed to sculpt, transport, and dedicate the statue. The target date for unveiling the monument is the 63rd anniversary of D-Day, 6 June 2007. Tax-deductible contributions should be made out to NOUS Foundation, with Normandy on the memo line, and mailed to Captain R. E. Piotrowski, USNR (Ret.), 2432 Fontana Dr., Glenview, IL 60025-4815. For further information on the project, contact Captain Greg Streeter, USN (Ret.), Chair, Naval Order Normandy Monument Committee, 780 Queens Harbor Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32224-7468; [email protected].
About The Naval Order
By Commander Daniel G. Felger, U.S. Navy (Retired)
The mission of the Naval Order of the United States is to preserve, promote, and celebrate the history and heritage of its component sea services: the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, and Public Health Service. The Naval Order, which was organized on 4 July 1890, also commemorates U.S. sea service battle victories and campaigns as well as specific events. Significantly, it was one of four naval-affiliated organizations that jointly organized and conducted Battle of Midway commemorative ceremonies prior to the Navy's adoption of Victory at Midway as an annual celebration. In recent years the Naval Order sponsored and organized the rededication of Admiral David G. Farragut's statue in his namesake square in Washington, D.C. It also planned and organized a ceremony to honor the contributions of African-American explorer Matthew Henson, associate and confidant of Commander Robert E. Peary, at the Arctic explorers' adjoining gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery. In addition, the organization annually presents numerous awards to U.S. Naval Academy and Naval ROTC midshipmen and cadets of the various other maritime academies. Many of the Naval Order's smaller commanderies, or chapters, sponsor speakers who educate youth about the importance of sea service history and service to the nation.
Currently, the Naval Order has 1,800 companions (members) in its 25 national commanderies. U.S. citizens who have served honorably or who are serving as an officer or enlisted member of the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, merchant marine, or other federal military maritime service are eligible for invitation to membership. To learn more, visit the Naval Order's Web site at www.navalorder.org.
Stephen Badsey, Utah Beach, Battle Zone Normandy series (Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited, 2004).
Stephen Badsey and Tim Bean, Omaha Beach, Battle Zone Normandy series (Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited, 2004).
Joseph Balkoski, Omaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944 (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2004).
Jonathan Gawne, Spearheading D-Day: American Special Units in Normandy (Paris, France: Histoire & Collections, 2001).
Martin Gilbert, D-Day (Somerset, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004).
Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II (New York: Military Press, 1989).
Laurent Lefebvre, They Were on Omaha Beach: 194 Eyewitnesses (France: Imprimerie Henry, 2003).
Lt (jg) Francis M. McKernon, as told to Kevin McKernon, Corry: A D-Day Survivor's Stories about the Destroyer That Led the Normandy Invasion (West Haven, CT: Easy Rudder Press, 2003).
Samuel Eliot Morison, The Invasion of France of France and Germany, 1944-1945, vol. 11, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1956).
Samuel Eliot Morison, The Two-Ocean War: A Short History of the U.S. Navy in the Second World War (Boston: Atlantic, Little Brown, 1963).
Dean L. Rockwell, "DD Spelled Disaster," Paul Stillwell, ed., Assault on Normandy: First-Person Accounts from the Sea Services (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1994).
Telephone interviews with Cpt Richard Zimermann, USN (Ret.) and Don Krebs, March 2006.
Barrett Tillman, Brassey's D-Day Encyclopedia: The Normandy Invasion A–Z (Washington, DC: Brassey's Inc., 2004).