Delayed by weather for 24 hours, the "U" force sailed for France on 5 June, with "Rich" and her sister ship "Bates" in the screen of the bombardment group of Task Force 125 (TF 125), which consisted of the battleship "Nevada" and the heavy cruisers , , and . From 6–8 June, she screened the heavier units as they supplied gunfire support for the troops landed on Utah Beach to the northwest of the Carentan Estuary. On 6 June, "Rich" laid down a smoke screen which foiled an attack by German E-Boat.