USS Corry (DD-463) D-Day Photos

While crossing the English Channel en route to Normandy, USS Corry commanding officer Lieutenant Commander George Dewey Hoffman informed his crew, "We are expendable on this mission." After arriving at the coast of France, in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, the USS Corry took up her bombardment position as one of five front line destroyers off Utah Beach and fiercely engaged German artillery firing from the Normandy shore. A prime target at the front of the invasion force, the Corry drew sustained shelling for more than an hour while successfully evading major damage. Maneuvering as close as 1,000 yards from the beach, she fired several hundred rounds of 5-inch ammunition at numerous Nazi targets.

As H-Hour neared, when troops would land and fight their way onto the beaches, two Allied planes began generating smoke screens between the shore batteries and bombarding warships to conceal the ships from enemy fire. While other frontline destroyers and rear vessels were receiving smoke cover, the plane assigned to lay smoke for the Corry suddenly got shot down, leaving the Corry fully exposed to German gunners who were now firing at her in full fury. With her four 5-inch guns, the Corry moved very close to the beach for precision firing, attempting to eliminate the Saint Marcouf/Crisbecq battery, which was the heaviest artillery battery on the shore, fortified with three 8.25-inch (210-mm) guns that fired massive 300-pound projectiles. To silence that battery early in the invasion would be a tremendous contribution to the troop landings. After a heated duel with the battery that lasted several minutes, enemy salvos began landing very close to the Corry, erupting towering plumes of water all around her.

After the order to abandon ship, crewmembers fought to survive in rough, bone-chilling 54-degree water for more than two hours before being rescued. All the while, the Corry survivors were under constant enemy fire from German shore gunners. One Corry crewmember raised the American flag up the sunken Corry's main mast, which remained above the surface of the shallow 30-foot deep water when the wreckage settled on the bottom. The ship blast along with additional casualties suffered out in the water from shelling, drowning, and exposure, resulted in 24 crewmen giving their lives and 60 being wounded, many seriously. For USS Corry survivors, the morning of June 6, 1944 was one harrowing experience they'd never forget.