The head of the U.S. Navy's Underwater Archaeology Branch takes us to the depths of the English Channel, graveyard of vessels sunk during Operation Neptune 65 years ago.
In the summers of 2000-2002, the Naval History & Heritage Command's underwater archaeologists conducted surveys off the Normandy coast for U.S. Navy ships lost on and after D-Day in June 1944. This was an ambitious study, for more than 5,000 Allied ships and other craft participated in Operation Neptune, and official records indicate that by 19 June the U.S. Navy had lost 162 vessels. The survey areas comprised the waters off Omaha and Utah beaches, Pointe du Hoc, the heavily mined Banc du Cardonnet, and the Pointe et Raz de la Percee.
