Combat Ships: Season 1, Episode 3

1 - 3: The Vessels That Saved D-Day

A chronological telling of the dramatic 1944 D-Day story, focusing on the vessels that made the landings possible, with an insight into personal stories and engineering wonders. From the X-Craft lying on the seabed in the days before the invasion to the battleships such as USS Texas and HMS Belfast who bombarded the Normandy beaches. We sail on the HMS Medusa – a harbor patrol boat that played a crucial role guiding the invasion fleet through minefields. The episode explores the technology behind the most unseaworthy vessel of the invasion – the Duplex Drive tanks and pays tribute to Andrew Higgins whose landing craft brought so many men to the Normandy shore.