Five battleships, twenty cruisers and sixty-five destroyers, among a fleet of thousands including the merchant navy, troop transports, escort ships and auxiliary vessels, began bombarding the Normandy coastline at 05:45 on 6th June. The bombardment was split into three phases: Phase 1 was to knock out the German heavy gun batteries; Phase 2 was a 20 minute bombardment of the beach defences before the landing began; Phase 3 was close fire support of troops on the beach which began after fire control teams landed. Produced in remembrance of the incredible sacrifices made by so many during the landings, the 120 Warships commemorative is part of the D-Day 75th Anniversary Collection and features an image of HMS Rodneys guns as she sails to Normandy with the combined flags of the Allied Forces above.
