Ken Ford - Operation Neptune 1944: D-Day’s Seaborne Armada

The port city of Cherbourg was one of the most important objectives of the Allied armies following the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. Although immediate logistical needs could be provided by over-the-beach delivery and the revolutionary Mulberry artificial harbors, the Allies needed a significant port for prolonged combat operations. Cherbourg was the most feasible port near the landing beaches, and its rapid capture was an essential Allied objective.

The Wehrmacht had presumed that any Allied landings in Lower Normandy (Basse Normandie) would require a port. As a result, both Cherbourg and Le Havre were heavily fortified in 194244 as part of the Atlantikwall program. This included the erection of an extensive network of coastal artillery batteries on both sides of the Cotentin Peninsula, extensive defenses in the immediate Cherbourg area, and a Landfront defense to the south of the city. On February 4, 1944, Hitler declared Cherbourg to be a Festung (fortress), which would be defended to the last man.

Following the landings at Utah Beach on D-Day, the German defenders of the Cotentin Peninsula frustrated American attempts to seize Cherbourg quickly by blocking an advance in the Montebourg sector. Since Cherbourg could not be captured on the run, on June 9, American commanders changed plans. They decided to cut off the Cotentin Peninsula to isolate the Cherbourg garrison from reinforcements from Brittany before proceeding to capture the port. After a shaky start in the difficult bocage country, VII Corps had pushed across the base of the Cotentin Peninsula by June 17. Rommel did not wish to have several divisions trapped on the Cotentin Peninsula, so three German divisions attempted to escape southward, leaving Kampfgruppe Schlieben to defend the city on its own. Over the course of the next week, VII Corps ground through the fortified Landfront defenses, reaching the outer ring of city defenses on June 21. The city fell on June 26, and the entire Cotentin Peninsula was declared secure on July 1, 1944.

An aerial reconnaissance photo of Cherbourg from the summer of 1944. (NARA)

The German defenders had planned to conduct an extensive series of demolitions in the city to render the port useless. The demolition program was delayed by Hitler until the last minute, but succeeded in blocking most of the key port facilities. Anticipating such demolitions, the Allies moved special salvage units into the city to clear the port. Some limited use of the port began immediately, but it took about two months of reconstruction to return it to full potential.

Cherbourg had become an important port only in the 19th century after the construction of a series of artificial breakwaters and jetties to shelter the harbor from the harsh weather of the English Channel. By the turn of the century, it had become a vital international passenger hub for transatlantic liners. Its famous rail center connected passengers to Paris and the rest of continental Europe. Cherbourg was Frances premier passenger port in the 1930s, but a distant 22nd for cargo with an average of only 900 tons per day.

Cherbourg had obvious military value, and the harbor was heavily fortified in the 19th century starting with Napoleon. Curiously enough, the Fashoda crisis of 1898 between Britain and France led to another spasm of construction the modernization of the seaward bastions and the addition of a ring of forts on the landward side. Cherbourg saw brief military action in 1940. The British Expeditionary Force first used it as an embarkation port and, in June 1940, BEF units were evacuated from Cherbourg after Dunkirk fell. It was finally captured by Rommels 7. Panzer-Division on June 19, 1940.

Early British planning for landings in France in 1942 such as Operation Roundup considered the seizure of a port as an essential ingredient. Cherbourg and Le Havre were the most likely Norman candidates, with Le Havre often favored because of the nearby airfields. Other schemes, such as the short-lived Operation Sledgehammer, considered the possibility of landing at Cherbourg and seizing the Cotentin Peninsula to provide an early foothold on the Continent. Cherbourg was the fifth-highest capacity port under Allied consideration after Antwerp, Rouen, Bordeaux, and Rotterdam, but the most attractive on account of its proximity to the Normandy beaches. It was anticipated that it could handle 5,000 tons of supplies daily within three months of capture; maximum capacity was expected to be about 8,500 tons daily after improvements were made.

A 37mm Flak 36 gun pit on the walls of Strongpoint 281 (Fort Central) in Cherbourg harbor with a coastal storm inundating the Digue Ouest breakwater in the background. This gun is still preserved at the fort today. (Alain Chazette)

The supreme commander for German forces in the west (Oberbefehlshaber West) was Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt. His headquarters controlled two army groups in France, Heeresgruppe B on the invasion front in northern France, and Heeresgruppe G in central and southern France. Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel was assigned to command Heeresgruppe B on the invasion front in the autumn of 1943. Rommel considerably invigorated the defense effort, and put his own stamp on the anti-invasion tactics.