Operation Tiger
Operation Tiger: December 1943-April 1944
Training exercises for the Normandy Invasion, also known as Exercise Tiger, began in the Slapton Sounds, England, area starting on December 15, 1943. While training in Lyme Bay (part of the English Channel south-west of England) on April 28, 1944, German torpedo boats, which had evaded patrols out of Cherbourg, France, attacked eight U.S. tank-landing ships. USS LST-507 and USS LST-531 were sunk off Portland Bill, England, and USS LST-289 was damaged. This brief action resulted in 198 Navy Sailors and 551 Army Soldiers dead or missing. The final rehearsals for the invasion had the codename of Fabius and were held between May 3-8, 1944.
Image: 80-G-283502: USS LST-289 docks at Dartmouth, England, after being torpedoed by German MTBs during rehearsal operations off Slapton Sands, England, April 28, 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collection of the National Archives.
