A fully illustrated study of how the US-led half of the Normandy invasion fleet was composed, commanded, and how it fought, from D-Day until the fall of Cherbourg.The D-Day landings and their aftermath were among the most complex and important naval operations in history. With the target beaches divided into two areas of responsibility – one US-commanded, one British – this armada launched a month-long operation to first support the landings, then to protect, supply, and support the troops ashore, as they fought to expand their toehold in occupied Europe.In this book, illustrated throughout with 3D diagrams, photos, maps and dramatic artwork, naval historian Brian Lane Herder explains how the US Navy-led Western Task Force was built, and outlines its operations off Normandy during June 1944. It covers this multinational fleet’s organization, assembly, and training, as well as the intelligence and logistics picture, and explores its actions that were so crucial to success on D-Day, from its superb and continuous minesweeping efforts to the aggressive gunfire support off Omaha and Utah beaches.A unique portrait of the American naval sector in the D-Day landings, this book also examines the Western Task Force’s operations off Normandy after the beachheads were established, including the destruction of the American Mulberry harbor in a storm, up to the conquest of the port of Cherbourg in late June 1944.
