Transporting men to the beaches
The one particular vehicle type from our history which above all else is associated with the D-Day landings is the landing craft which transported the soldiers of the Allied invasion force on to the beaches at Normandy.
The two types developed by BAE Systems’ predecessor companies are the LCA (Landing Craft Assault) and LVT (Landing Vehicle Tracked).
The LCA was used extensively on D-Day. Of the over 4,000 landing ships and landing craft used by the invasion force, some 600 were LCAs, ferrying troops from the transport ships directly on to the enemy held beaches of Normandy. Developed from a prototype designed by John I. Thornycroft and Co., of Woolston, Hampshire and built by them and a number of other shipbuilders under subcontract, the LCAs became the standard British small infantry landing craft. They were capable of transporting 35 troops or over 360 kg of cargo, along with four crew, more or less straight on to the beaches, helped by their shallow draft. While their primary task was to transport and land fighting troops, as the operation developed, they were also utilised to ferry equipment and stores to the shore to support the ongoing military operation. This was a vital role which helped maintain the momentum of the Allied invasion force.
US landing craft
The LVT or ‘Buffalo’ was originally developed from a design created by American inventor Donald Roebling. Working with the US Navy, Roebling developed his original designs for a civilian rescue vessel into what became the LVT-1, which entered production in 1940-41. The very first contract for the construction of 200 LVT’s was placed with the Food Machinery Corporation and they were built at its factory in Dunedin, Florida. Originally a manufacturer of farm equipment, FMC set up a separate division for the production of military equipment during the Second World War, which would later become United Defense Industries and in 2005 join the BAE Systems family as BAE Systems Inc’s Platforms & Services.
Only a small number of LVTs were actually used on D-Day, as the majority of those that had been constructed up to that point had been allocated for service in the Pacific with the United States Marine Corps (USMC). Here they played an important role in a number of seaborne operations.
We never could have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different.President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force
The LVT and LCA were among a number of different types of landing craft and amphibious vehicles utilised by the Allied forces during D-Day – and their role in the success of the overall operation is hard to overstate. In fact years later, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had been Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force and was in overall command of Operation Overlord, commented that without the landing craft “we never could have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different”. While he was referring specifically to the LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel), the comment can equally be applied to all of the landing crafts used in the seaborne invasion of France on the early morning of 6 June 1944. Eighty years on and the military requirements for seaborne landings still exists, and BAE Systems is heavily engaged in the design and production of vehicles with similar objectives to the landing crafts used on D-Day – safely and efficiently deploying troops and equipment from ship to shore.
From battleships to motor torpedo boats
More than 30 ships with historic links to BAE Systems participated in Operation Overlord, as the Allied invasion of Normandy was known, and Operation Neptune, the naval phase of the invasion.
These ships, ranging in size from battleships and cruisers such as HMS Nelson (constructed by Armstrong-Whitworth) and HMS Ajax (constructed at Vickers-Armstrong’s dockyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria), to gunboats and motor torpedo boats such as HMS Locust (constructed at Yarrows dockyard, Scotstoun) and MTB 24 (built by John I. Thornycroft and Company), performed a variety of roles during the Normandy landings
Many of the battleships, cruisers and destroyers played an offensive role in the invasion, bombarding German defences across the Normandy coast to aid the waves of attacking Allied soldiers attempting to land at the designated beaches of Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.
Other vessels performed a variety of supporting roles during the D-Day landings, including vital convoy escort duties screening the invasion fleet from possible U-boat and E-boat attack, along with minesweeping, anti-aircraft and ferrying tasks.
The pride of Glasgow
Several vessels performing these support roles were constructed by another BAE Systems historic company from their shipyards in Glasgow. Over the course of the war, workers at the Yarrows shipyard delivered a ship on average every 10 weeks, many of them destined for the Royal Navy, including a number of ‘C’ Class and Hunt Class destroyers and Black Swan Class sloops who would go on to participate in the D-Day landings.
The Yarrows-built ships which participated in D-Day/Operation Neptune are:
| Dragonfly, Hunt & F-class | I, V & Black Swan-class | |
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Eighty years on, and the same shipyard, as part of BAE Systems Maritime & Land, is constructing the next generation of warships for the Royal Navy – with HMS Glasgow and HMS Cardiff, among the first four of eight Type 26 frigates currently under construction at the sites. These vessels form part of a larger, Global Combat Ship programme, which sees BAE Systems engaged in similar programmes for the Canadian and Australian navies, via the Canadian Surface Combatant and Australian Hunter-class programme respectively.
Shipbuilding at Barrow-in-Furness
Productivity at the Vickers-Armstrongs shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria was equally high throughout the war. Altogether, six vessels that supported D-Day were built at the shipyard. These include HMS Ajax, sister ship of HMS Orion, which supported the landings at Gold Beach, bombarding various strongpoints, including a German battery of 6 guns at Longues which she was able to put out of action.
Altogether, six vessels that supported D-Day were built at the Vickers-Armstrongs shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria:
| U-class, Leander and C-class | G-class and I-class | |
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HMS Orion, another Leander-class light cruiser, whose engine was built at Barrow, is thought by some to have fired the first shot of the D-Day invasion fleet, at 05:26 am off the coast of Gold beach. Others suggest that it was either HMS Belfast, utilising her 12 x 6-inch Mk XXIII main battery guns, a number of which had also been constructed by Vickers-Armstrongs; or HMS Warspite, powered by her 24 Yarrow boilers. Today, the Barrow dockyard from where HMS Ajax was launched in 1934, is still constructing vessels as BAE Systems Submarines business. In an echo to Ajax’s construction 90 years ago, the dockyard is once again constructing a vessel named after a legendary Greek hero from the Trojan wars – HMS Agamemnon, the sixth Astute-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine of the Royal Navy is currently in build at the site.
An international operation
As a truly multi-national operation, ships from the United States, Canada, Poland, Free France, Norway and Holland took part in the invasion alongside the Royal Navy. In fact, several of the vessels in the Canadian fleet used in the operation had originally been constructed for the British Royal Navy, and were transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy during the course of the war. They included the Barrow built ships HMCS Ottawa (previously HMS Griffin), and HMCS St Laurent (previously HMS Cygnet), and the Thornycroft constructed HMCS Kootenay (previously HMS Decoy).
A number of the Free French ships used in the operation too had originally been built for the Royal Navy. This includes La Combattante (previously HMS Haldon), which had been built by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at their shipyard in Glasgow, now home to BAE Systems shipbuilding facilities at Govan.
The role of gun systems and naval systems
Many of the vessels taking part in D-Day were also equipped with other armaments manufactured by our heritage companies. For the Royal Navy, these included the main and secondary guns on various battleships, cruisers and other types of warship. These were made by Vickers-Armstrongs at their Elswick and Scotswood sites in Newcastle. In addition, these ships also carried smaller anti-aircraft guns which included the Swedish-designed Bofors 40mm Automatic Gun L/60. Bofors, now forms part of BAE Systems through our American business, BAE Systems Inc.
First produced in 1936, the 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun is one of the most versatile and widely used artillery systems. Designed for use on land and at sea, amazingly, 86 years later, a highly developed version of the gun, the all-electric 40 Mk4, is still used as the latest naval gun today. It is also in use on the combat vehicle CV 9040 and the air-defense vehicle TriAD.
Alongside the guns, other equipment used by the naval forces during Operation Neptune can be traced back to our heritage companies. Many of the United States Navy ships that took part in the operation were fitted with gun mounts produced at what is now a BAE Systems Inc. site in Fridley, Minneapolis, where the gun mount plant first emerged from a cornfield in 1940. The Royal Navy’s battleships and cruisers were fitted with electromechanical analogue computer fire-control systems, known as Admiralty Fire Control Tables to calculate the correct elevation and deflection of the their main guns. These were built by Elliott Bros, a business which evolved into BAE Systems Electronic Systems, whose UK site is based at Rochester in Kent. Smaller RN ships were fitted with less complex systems gunnery fire-control systems. In addition, for anti-aircraft gun control, RN ships were fitted with the Vickers provided High Altitude Control System (HACS).
In addition to the warships built by Yarrows, the company also built steam turbines, reciprocating engines and the Yarrow boilers for ships built by other companies.
We are immensely proud of our heritage, and the contribution our legacy companies made to the success of the D-Day campaign to liberate Europe 80 years ago. That success was built on the bravery of the sailors, soldiers and aircrew who took part, as well as on the efforts of the manufacturers and industries and their workforce who contributed so much to the war effort to ensure they had the equipment they needed. Today at BAE Systems, we take the same pride and satisfaction from our work to protect those who protect us, a core principle that is as true today as it was 80 years ago.
80 years later
Today at BAE Systems, we take the same pride and satisfaction from our work to protect those
who protect us, a core principle that is as true today as it was 80 years ago.