From Portsmouth: Through a night of high winds and driving rain, the vast armada of over 6,000 ships - warships, merchantmen, landing craft and barges - sails down the marked channels cleared by flotillas of minesweepers. Fifty miles wide, and protected on the flanks by scores of fast-moving torpedo boats, the invasion fleet carries 185,000 men and 20,000 vehicles. Each man, each landing craft, each tank must arrive at a precisely-chosen place at a specific time.
Just ten days ago, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, C-in-C naval forces for Overlord, arrived at his advance HQ in Southwick House, Portsmouth. He carried a printed book, foolscap size, three inches thick; this is the Neptune plan, mapping out every move of the 47 convoys for the launch of Overlord. Each ship bears a code that will take it to its destination and bring it back to a port in England where the guns will be cleaned and supplies loaded. Nearly 200,000 naval and merchant seamen are involved.
Some 200 miles to the east, the RAF and Royal Navy are racing back and forth, creating - for enemy radar - the illusion of a sizeable fleet moving on Calais.
But Neptune is headed for a 50-mile line of beaches west of the Bay of Seine, and already the first marker ships are on station, with Royal Marine MTBs ready to put out the smokescreen to shield the fleet from the big guns at Le Havre.
In all, 1,213 warships are taking part in Neptune. Well before dawn the big ships began the bombardment: seven battleships, including HMS WARSPITE and HMS FROBISHER, and 23 cruisers sent shells thundering into enemy positions, while 105 destroyers moved up for close-range firing. Frogmen and engineers were sent in to clear the shallows of mines and unnumerable obstacles.
The 864-converted merchant ships and 4,216 landing craft begin manoeuvring for the assault, This is the most dangerous phase. The high seas pose a greater threat than the enemy, sinking many landing craft.
The Eastern Task Force of the Royal Navy is supporting the British and Canadian landings on Sword, Juno and Gold Beaches with ships from six ports from Southampton to Shoreham. The Western Task Force of the US Navy, serving Utah and Omaha Beaches, is operating from six ports from Torbay to Poole. It is the greatest invasion fleet in history. As D-Day ends, Neptune has put 132,715 men ashore. But its task has only begun: now 2,000,000 men must be shipped to France and supplied. Also on their way are two floating harbours.
Whilst shepherding landing craft through the Mid-Channel mine barrage, V&W class destroyer HMS Wrestler strayed into unswept waters and struck a mine. She is towed to Plymouth and surveyed but not repaired. Location: NW of Le Havre at 49 36N 0 27W. (Alex Gordon)(108)
Canadian MTBs in Operation Neptune - HMC MTB 460, MTB 459, MTB 461, MTB 462, MTB 463, MTB 464, MTB 465, MTB 466, MTB 726, MTB 727, MTB 735, MTB 736, MTB 743, MTB 745, MTB 746, MTB 748.
Canadian destroyers in Operation Neptune - HMCS Haida, Huron, Algonquin, Sioux, Chaudiere, Gatineau, Kootenay, Ottawa, St Laurent, Qu'Appelle, Restigouche, Skeena, Saskatchewan.
Canadian frigates in Operation Neptune - HMCS Cape Breton, Outremont, Teme, Waskesiu, Matane, Meon, Port Colborne, Saint John, Stormont, Swansea.
Canadian landing ships in Operation Neptune - HMCS Prince Henry and Prince David.
Small Canadian landing craft in Operation Neptune - LCA 1057, 1374, 1059, 1137, 1138, 1150, 1151, 1375, 736, 850, 856, 925, 1021, 1033, 1371, 1372.
Canadian corvettes in Operation Neptune - HMCS Baddeck, Calgary, Camrose, Drumheller, Kitchener, Lindsay, Louisburg, Lunenburg, Mayflower, Mimico, Moose Jaw, Port Arthur, Prescott, Regina, Rimouski, Summerside, Trentonian, Woodstock, Alberni.
HMCS LCI(L) 121 and 249 were in refit in UK and missed Operation Neptune.
(DS)