Enterprise's D-Day gunfire support

Enterprise led Sub-Group U and supported the Utah landing by bombarding defences around Saint-Martin-de-Varreville and Cherbourg. After both her captain and commander were wounded, the first lieutenant, Lieutenant-Commander Brown, brought the ship back to Portland. Twenty days later she helped silence German guns in another bombardment. Across D-Day and the ensuing operations she fired roughly 9,000 six-inch shells, and the strain of sustained fire required two overnight barrel changes at Portsmouth. She later supported British operations near Caen with Mauritius and the monitor Roberts. In September she deployed off the Dutch coast to support Second Army, although she was not required to fire. About 9,000 shells and two overnight barrel changes measure the intensity of her shore-bombardment work.