The time for conducting exercises was quickly coming to an end. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of the Allied invasion forces, finally set the date for the invasion of Normandy–June 5, 1944. British Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsey sent the signal to carry out Operation Neptune, the naval part of the invasion, on May 28. From that date, all crews taking part in the invasion remained aboard their vessels. Troops began embarking on the last day of May and PC-1225 moved from its station in Portland Harbor to Weymouth Bay and anchored there for the night.

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in World War II magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

By June 3, PC-1225 and the other vessels heading for Omaha and Utah beaches were in their assigned assembly areas waiting for the word to go. About 3:30 the next morning, PC-1225 slipped her anchor and got underway to start forming its convoy. An hour later, the vessel was escorting a convoy of LSTs and LCTs (landing craft, tank) toward the invasion area.

But a storm threw a kink in the plans. ‘The weather was really rotten, and that made for very rough seas,’ said Hyde. ‘The English Channel can be rough even in moderate weather. On the morning of June 4 it was terrible.’ Eisenhower made the decision not to go about the same time that PC-1225 headed east with its convoy. Six hours later, the patrol craft returned to Portland Harbor.

There really was no way the troops could stay on the ships much longer. Some of them had already been on board for almost a week. By now, all of the units had been briefed on the invasion plan. Meanwhile, Rear Adm. Alan Kirk, commander of the task force that was to head for Omaha and Utah beaches, needed to receive the word to go no later than 10 p.m. on June 4 in order to get his forces moving. Anything later would mean the invasion fleet might not be in place by dawn on June 6. Eisenhower decided to go at 9:45 p.m., and once again the wheels were set in motion. By the time he made that decision, PC-1225 had already moved to its ready line in Weymouth Bay. Shortly afterward, the convoy vessels began forming up once again. The ship’s log contains the following entry for June 5: ‘(0346) Underway, standing out of Weymouth Bay as part of escort, escorting TG [Task Group] 122 of Operation Neptune to coast of France.’ Destiny was an hour away.

During the long, slow move across the Channel, PC-1225 had to take landing craft, control LCC-40 under tow. During that operation, the patrol craft’s port screw became fouled with the towing hawser. From that moment, PC-1225 could only operate with its starboard screw, which made it much harder to maneuver the craft.

Minesweepers led each convoy toward the beaches. As they swept the waters, they dropped buoys to mark the cleared channels, but there was no guarantee that every mine was removed. In fact, the minesweeper Osprey was the first casualty of the operation.

The invasion fleet converged on a point in the English Channel south of the Isle of Wight, then turned toward the beaches. That point, actually a circle five miles wide, was commonly referred to as Piccadilly Circus, though its proper name was Point Z. From there, five channels were swept, one per beach. That section was known as The Spout. Closer to France, each channel was split into two–one for fast ships, the other for slower vessels.

Before 4 a.m. on June 6, PC-1225 had left her group of LSTs and LCTs behind and was headed to her assigned position. By 5:40 she was anchored 4,300 yards off the town of Vierville-sur-Mer. ‘This point was the line of departure for the first assault waves. It was the patrol craft’s job to send in the waves at the right time,’ Hyde recalled. ‘Other PCs and LCCs had the actual job of guiding landing craft to the proper beach sectors.’ A line of 110-foot, wooden-hulled sub-chasers was farther out to sea. The transport area, where the smaller landing craft were loaded, was 11 miles off the coast. The area was much farther out than was usual due to the angle of the coastline. The control vessel’s job was to keep the low-riding landing craft, which often couldn’t see the shore, headed toward the correct beach. PC-1225 was now part of Assault Group 0-2, commanded by Navy Captain W.O. Bailey, which was carrying the 116th Regimental Combat Team to the beach.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to