[Destro]

The naval component of the operation, code named Operation NEPTUNE, comprised large numbers of warships, auxiliaries and landing craft. In all, Britain, Canada, and the United States, as well as the navies-in-exile of France, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Greece, supplied 1,213 warships for the invasion. Their main task was to provide shore bombardment firepower for the troops going ashore, to guard the transports, and to conduct minesweeping and antisubmarine patrols on the flanks of the invasion corridor. The same navies also provided 4,126 amphibious craft, including a variety specialized landing craft, such as LSTs (Landing Ship, Tank), LCIs (Landing Craft, Infantry), and LCTs (Landing Craft, Tank [Rocket]). More than 3,500 of these landing craft were actually used during the Normandy Invasion. These amphibious craft would provide the crucial troop-carrying capacity to land the thousands of men, vehicles, and artillery along the 50-mile wide target area in the Bay of the Seine.

[Destro]

Ships of the 'D-Day Navy'

[nothingnew]

I like D-Day better than Day-Day.

FMCDH(BITS)

[First_Salute]

The number of dead, cited above at 2,500, is incorrect.

The U.S. alone, lost more than 4,200 and after further rearch, that number is expected to exceed 4,500.

[Numbers Guy]

My mother's not a big fan of Dubya, but she's old enough to remember WW II and she is enraged at the obsession over the death toll in Iraq. She knows, as anyone else who lived through WW II knows, that 800 dead in combat and accidents in one year doesn't compare to a single week's deaths in WW II. This article helps put the sacrifice made by our finest 60 years ago into perspective. Thanks for posting it.

[Pompah]

Add to your reading list : S.L.A.Marshall's "Night Drop".
A good read on the America Airborne (82nd and 101st) operations at Normandy.

[VOA]

link to the National D-Day Museum (in New Orleasn, home of the Higgins boat) -
http://www.ddaymuseum.org/

[nutmeg]

ping