The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) played a significant role in the Allied landing in Normandy, France (D-Day). In addition to transporting troops and vehicles in LCAs (landing craft assault: landing craft carrying 30 troops each) and LCMs (landing craft mechanized: larger landing craft carrying jeeps, trucks, armoured cars, and light tanks), the RCN also deployed 110 warships to support the invasion force. These vessels included destroyers, frigates, corvettes, and minesweepers.
During the night of 5-6 June 1944, RCN minesweepers cleared the approaches to all 5 Allied landing areas. As the LCAs and LCMs approached their targets, the RCN ships, together with those of the Royal Navy (RN), shelled the German defensive positions along the coast of Normandy. As the landings progressed, the RCN- and RN-escorted ships carried additional troops and equipment to the Normandy beachhead. During the first day of operations, LCAs and LCMs of the RCN and RN had landed 176,000 troops and their equipment on the coast of Normandy.
