Utah Beach
Utah Beach
Rear Admiral Don P. Moon, USN, led Task Force 125, for the assault on Utah Beach (Cotentin Penisula), on board USS Bayfield (APA-33). The assault force consisted of minesweeper, assault, escort, bombardment, and shore party groups. The U.S. Army's 4th Division was led by Major General Raymond O. Barton, USA, with units of VII Corps led by Major General Joseph "Lightening Joe" Lawton Collins, USA. The events of the two beaches invaded, Omaha and Utah, by U.S. forces could not have been different. Despite the tidal current landing the force a mile away from the designated area, the 4th Infantry was able to force themselves six miles deep and wide before the end of the day against a lesser German force. Among the ships and landing craft during the beach invasion were USS Corry (DD-463) and USS PC-1261. Of the 21,000 troops that landed, there were only 197 casualities. In a sharp contrast, only a few miles away, a bloody battle waged at the Omaha beaches.
Image: 80-G-252412: USS Nevada (BB-36), forward 14/45 guns fire on shore positions during the Utah beach landings, June 6, 1944. Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
