HMNB Portsmouth the military and naval units destined for Sword Beach on the Normandy coast as a part of Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944. Troops destined for each of the landing beaches left from Portsmouth aboard vessels such as the armed merchant cruisers HMCS "Prince Henry" and HMCS "Prince David", escorted by the Canadian destroyers HMCS "Algonquin" and "Sioux". The majority of the naval support for the operation left from Portsmouth, including the Mulberry Harbours. Boathouse 4 (built around the start of hostilities) contributed to the construction of landing craft and support vessels as well as more
Battle of Ushant (1944) Battle of Ushant (1944) The Battle of Ushant, also known as the Battle of Brittany, occurred on the early morning of 9 June 1944 and was an engagement between German and Allied destroyer flotillas off the coast of Brittany. The action came shortly after the initial Allied landings in Normandy. After a confused engagement during the night the Allies sank one of the German destroyers and forced another ashore, where she was wrecked. On 6 June 1944, the day of the first landings in Normandy, the remnants of the German 8th destroyer flotilla, consisting of the Type 36A and ,