There were a handful of Shermans on Omaha Beach. Most sank in the choppy water.
And most of them are still out there in the waters off France. Complete with some of their crews - who couldn’t get out.
From Wikipedia:
The main use of DD tanks occurred on D-Day. They were also used in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France, on 15 August 1944. Limited numbers were also used during Operation Plunder, the British crossing of the Rhine on March 23, 1945.
[edit] D-Day
The DD Sherman was used to equip ten tank battalions of British, Canadian and American forces for the D-Day landings. Tank landing craft or LCTs, each carrying four tanks, would launch the DDs from around two miles offshore. They would swim to the beaches and overpower German defences unprepared for attack tanks. In the event, the tank’s record was a mixture of success and failure, although they are mainly remembered for their disastrous failure on Omaha Beach.
On the British Sword Beach, at the eastern end of the invasion area, the DD tanks worked well, as the sea was reasonably calm. The DD tanks were launched two and a half miles (4 km) from shore and 32 out of 34 tanks successfully reached the beach, where they covered the assault troops as planned. This contributed to the comparatively light casualties on this beach.
On Gold Beach, the sea was rougher and the LCTs were ordered to land the tanks directly on the beach rather than risk launching them at sea. Consequently, instead of being the first units ashore, the DD’s landed at the same time as the infantry and the other specialist assault tanks. German anti-tank guns caused heavy losses in some sectors of the beach but the assault was successful.
On the Canadian Juno Beach, The Fort Garry Horse and the 1st Hussars were equipped with DD tanks, but only those of the 1st Hussars could be launched. They were assigned to the 7th Canadian Brigade, on the western end of the beach. Twenty-nine tanks were launched 800 yards (700 m) from the beach, twenty-one reached the shore. However, they only arrived after the first wave of infantry which consequently suffered heavy losses. Despite this, the tanks were able to destroy German defensive positions and Canadian troops soon advanced several miles inland. The 8th Canadian Brigade, on the eastern end of the beach, was forced to land without DD tanks because of rougher seas. They suffered heavy initial casualties, but were still able to make good progress.
On Utah Beach, four of the DD tanks were lost when their LCT struck a mine and sank. The remaining 28 arrived on shore successfully. However, on the way in, they were overtaken by the faster infantry landing craft and so only arrived 15 minutes after the initial infantry landing. Despite this, the DD tanks were one of several factors that contributed to the light American casualties on this beach.
At Omaha Beach almost all of the tanks launched offshore were lost, contributing to the high casualty rate and slow progress at that beach.
There were 112 tanks assigned to the first wave at Omaha Beach, with 56 tanks in each of the 741st and 743rd Tank Battalions. Each of these battalions had 32 DD Shermans and 24 other Shermans (including many Sherman bulldozers for clearing obstacles). Starting at about 0540, the 741st Tank Battalion put 29 DD Shermans into the sea, but 27 of these sank and only two made the long swim to the beach. Some of the crews of the sinking tanks managed to radio back and warn following units not to launch as far out. The remaining tanks of the 741st Tank Battalion and all tanks of the 743rd Tank Battalion (except for 4 tanks aboard one LCT that was hit by artillery fire just off the beach) were landed directly on the beach, starting at about 0640.
The DD Tanks were designed to withstand waves up to 1 foot (0.3 m) high; however, on that day the waves were up to 6 feet (2 m) high. These were much worse conditions than the tanks had been tested in and thus they were swamped with water. Also, the tanks of 741st Tank Battalion were released into the sea too far out,[3] about 3 miles (5 km) offshore. Considering the inherent difficulty in steering a 35 ton modified tank, it is a tribute to the crews that they got as far as they did. The crews were equipped with emergency breathing apparatus capable of lasting 5 minutes, and the tanks were also equipped with inflatable rafts.[4]. Although some sources claim that these life-saving measures were ineffective,[5] this view is contradicted by the testimony of survivors.[6] In fact, most of the crews were rescued, mainly by the landing craft of the 16th RCT (Regimental Combat Team)[7] although five crewmen are known to have died during the sinkings.[8]