Battleships in World War II part of Operation Neptune, in support of the D-Day landings in June 1944. D-Day also saw the deliberate sacrifice of two old dreadnoughts ( and ), which were scuttled as part of the breakwater around the Allied Mulberry harbours. The sinking of "Prince of Wales" and "Repulse" off the coast of Malaya in 1941 demonstrated that even the most modern battleships could not hold off aerial attacks without decent aerial defenses. The British HACS fire control system had been rendered inoperable by the extreme heat and humidity of the Malaya tropical climate, and the anti-aircraft artillery had managed to shoot
D-Day naval deceptions the western flank of the true invasion fleet. This operation was intended to lend confusion as to the extent of the landings in Normandy. Glimmer and Taxable were very similar operations. They were executed in the early hours of 6 June 1944 whilst the invasion fleet was approaching Normandy. Taxable simulated an invasion force approaching Cap d'Antifer and Glimmer threatened Pas-de-Calais. By dropping chaff in progressive patterns, Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers were able to create the illusion of a large fleet on coastal radar screens. Beneath the chaff, small boats towed radar reflector balloons and simulated the radio traffic