Amphibious Assaults
Modern Warfare is complex- one of the most difficult operations in modern warfare is conducting an amphibious landing on a hostile shore. Utah Beach was the site of one of the most successful D-Day landing beaches in terms of casualties. The way in which the amphibious landing on Utah beach was conducted lead to this success.
Amphibious operations, like most military operations, consist of a series of phases. These phases can happen sequentially and/or simultaneously in order to achieve success.
The first phase is isolating the objective. This was critical on Utah so that the Germans could not reinforce the beach, allowing the Allies to overwhelm the defenders at the point of attack. Airborne assaults coupled with naval firing were used to achieve this.
The next phase was to provide line support to the landings. Naval warships and the US Air Force's 9th Air Force bombed the beach with B-26 medium bombers on the morning of June 6th just before the assault wave hit the beach. Unlike at Omaha these bombers approached the target in a parallel flight pattern. This ensured that most of the bombs fell on the beach and not behind it. On Omaha the planes flew perpendicular to the beach towards the ocean and dropped the bombs to soon because they were afraid of hitting their own soldiers. This meant that none of the German guns were taken out before the first infantry waves arrived on Omaha and that there was no coverage on the beaches from bomb craters. On Utah the parallel bombing was successful. The B Company daily journal described the "glorious" job of the bombers as the assault wave prepared to hit the beach.
The next phase, the assault phase, is the one that tends to get most of the attention. It is complex, but not necessarily the most complex.
For Utah, the initial assault wave consisted of the 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division. One of the problems confronting the planners of D-Day was how to get tanks ashore during the assault phase in order to provide direct fire support for the infantry in attacking German strong points. The solution was the the M4 Sherman Duplex Drive Tank (more information on M4 Sherman Duplex Drive Tank page).
The assault phase at Utah did not go off without a glitch. Due to navigational problems (two quede ships were destroyed/disabled going into the beach), strong currents, and an overall lack of distinguishing terrain features, the assault wave at Utah landed 2000 yards to the left of the planned location. Brigadier General Teddy Roosevelt elected to start the war here and brought subsequent waves to the new location.
Once the assault forces gained a foothold, Army and Navy Engineers were brought in at H+17 to begin clearing lanes through the obstacle belts to bring in follow up forces. The Navy had the responsibility for clearing from low tide out to the ocean and the Army covered low tide inland. In addition to clearing lanes trhough the obstacles, tanks with bulldozer blades breached the seawall in several locations to facilitate access to the causeways leading inland.
Once follow on forces arrived, engineers continued to clear obstacles and prepare the beach for initiation of the final phase of an amphibious landing- expansion of the beachhead and movement inland.
Landing on the beach is only half the battle, sustaining combat forces is the most challenging and complex aspect of military operations. As combat forces move inland, the logistical tail needs to follow them. During this phase a myriad of tasks must unfold. Medical treatment and evacuation of injured soldiers must occur. Also, food, fuel, ammunition, and other supplies must be brought ashore and distributed. Division Headquarters need to be brought ashore and communications and a network must be established. Transportation in truck units must be provided, and army artillery must be brought to provide fire support. This whole mess was the responsibility of Navy Beach masters. Getting units off the beach to the fight was a priority so that the Allied forces could build more combat power quicker than the Germans in order to set the conditions for a breakout and ultimate victory.
Overall, Utah beach was a huge success. One LCT hit a magnetic mine, which had our soldier, Norman Foster, aboard, destroying four tanks and killing 17 soldiers. In total, there were about 200 casualties on D-Day at Utah Beach.
Amphibious operations, like most military operations, consist of a series of phases. These phases can happen sequentially and/or simultaneously in order to achieve success.
The first phase is isolating the objective. This was critical on Utah so that the Germans could not reinforce the beach, allowing the Allies to overwhelm the defenders at the point of attack. Airborne assaults coupled with naval firing were used to achieve this.
The next phase was to provide line support to the landings. Naval warships and the US Air Force's 9th Air Force bombed the beach with B-26 medium bombers on the morning of June 6th just before the assault wave hit the beach. Unlike at Omaha these bombers approached the target in a parallel flight pattern. This ensured that most of the bombs fell on the beach and not behind it. On Omaha the planes flew perpendicular to the beach towards the ocean and dropped the bombs to soon because they were afraid of hitting their own soldiers. This meant that none of the German guns were taken out before the first infantry waves arrived on Omaha and that there was no coverage on the beaches from bomb craters. On Utah the parallel bombing was successful. The B Company daily journal described the "glorious" job of the bombers as the assault wave prepared to hit the beach.
The next phase, the assault phase, is the one that tends to get most of the attention. It is complex, but not necessarily the most complex.
For Utah, the initial assault wave consisted of the 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division. One of the problems confronting the planners of D-Day was how to get tanks ashore during the assault phase in order to provide direct fire support for the infantry in attacking German strong points. The solution was the the M4 Sherman Duplex Drive Tank (more information on M4 Sherman Duplex Drive Tank page).
The assault phase at Utah did not go off without a glitch. Due to navigational problems (two quede ships were destroyed/disabled going into the beach), strong currents, and an overall lack of distinguishing terrain features, the assault wave at Utah landed 2000 yards to the left of the planned location. Brigadier General Teddy Roosevelt elected to start the war here and brought subsequent waves to the new location.
Once the assault forces gained a foothold, Army and Navy Engineers were brought in at H+17 to begin clearing lanes through the obstacle belts to bring in follow up forces. The Navy had the responsibility for clearing from low tide out to the ocean and the Army covered low tide inland. In addition to clearing lanes trhough the obstacles, tanks with bulldozer blades breached the seawall in several locations to facilitate access to the causeways leading inland.
Once follow on forces arrived, engineers continued to clear obstacles and prepare the beach for initiation of the final phase of an amphibious landing- expansion of the beachhead and movement inland.
Landing on the beach is only half the battle, sustaining combat forces is the most challenging and complex aspect of military operations. As combat forces move inland, the logistical tail needs to follow them. During this phase a myriad of tasks must unfold. Medical treatment and evacuation of injured soldiers must occur. Also, food, fuel, ammunition, and other supplies must be brought ashore and distributed. Division Headquarters need to be brought ashore and communications and a network must be established. Transportation in truck units must be provided, and army artillery must be brought to provide fire support. This whole mess was the responsibility of Navy Beach masters. Getting units off the beach to the fight was a priority so that the Allied forces could build more combat power quicker than the Germans in order to set the conditions for a breakout and ultimate victory.
Overall, Utah beach was a huge success. One LCT hit a magnetic mine, which had our soldier, Norman Foster, aboard, destroying four tanks and killing 17 soldiers. In total, there were about 200 casualties on D-Day at Utah Beach.