“The Restless Waves” is the third coin in the D-Day Conneaut Commemorative series. The 2011 coin honors those who served in naval operations prior to and during D-Day, June 6th, 1944. The coin also celebrates the 67th anniversary of the invasion and the 12th of D-Day Conneaut. The Allied Naval Expeditionary Force, 6,939 ships in total, was divided into two Naval Task Forces. The western task force under the command of Rear-Admiral Alan G. Kirk and the eastern task force under the command of Rear-Admiral Sir Philip Vian sailing on the flagships USS Augusta and HMS Scylla respectively. The Invasion Fleet was drawn from eight different navies, five of which are represented on the 2011 coin: Canada, France, the United States, the Netherlands and Norway. Liberte' again adorns the coin and the stars have been replaced by the Amphibious Force emblem.
Holland and Norway Flags: At dawn on June 6th, while supporting the British Army landings at Sword Beach, Norwegian Destoyer HNoMS Svenner was sunk by torpedoes launched from German S-Boats. 33 crewmen were lost. Hr. Ms. Sumba and Hr. Ms. Flores of the Dutch Navy gave support during the invasion by bombarding German positions and additional Motor Patrol Boats screened further attempts by German Schnellboots engaged in trying to intercept the cross channel convoys.
The main feature of the allied side of the coin features the USS Emmons 1500 yards off shore from the Fox Red sector of Omaha beach. The Emmons partnered with other destroyers fired upon and destroyed many of the hard points and entrenched mortar positions. The bell tower of the Notre Dame de l'Assomption (Our Lady of the Assumption) church in Colleville-Sur-Mer, used by the Germans as an observation post, was subsequently destroyed by the Emmons’ 5 inch guns later in the afternoon of the 6th.
Officers from the USS Augusta in the foreground survey the action. When onshore V Corps Commander General Gerow finally established communications with General Bradley, his first message was, "Thank God for the U.S. Navy!" Operation Maple outlined the laying of mines to force German ships away from air protection of the Luftwaffe where they could be attacked by Allied destroyer flotillas. Mine sweeping operations were aided by the Dutch and Canadian Navies.
Prior the invasion, Hr. Ms. Marches sunk on May 20, 1944, by an acoustic mine. All except one man of the entire crew of 20 were lost. Operation Postage Able - One of the little known operations that contributed to success of the D-Day landing the verification that the beaches were suitable for an amphibious landing. On January 16, 1944, a British mini submarine, the HMS X20 planned to spend four days off the French coast. The midget sub was commanded by Lt KR Hudspeth and Sub. Lt. B. Enzer, with the Combined Ops Pilotage Party comprising of Lt.Cdr. Nigel Willmott, and two divers, Major Logan and Sergeant Ogden-Smith onboard as well. During the daytime, periscope-level reconnaissance of the shoreline and echo-soundings were performed. Each night, the sub would approach the beach, and the divers would swim ashore to take soil samples for analysis. The divers went ashore on two nights to survey the beaches at Vierville-sur-Mer, Moulins St Laurent and Colleville-sur-Mer in what became the American Omaha Beach. On the third night, they were due to go ashore off the Orne Estuary (Sword Beach), but by this time crew fatigue and worsening weather caused commander Hudspeth to shorten the operation. The sub returned to HMS Dolphin on January 21, 1944.
Operation Gambit - During the landing phase of the invasion two British midget submarines were tasked to mark the extreme left and right limits of the British and Canadian invasion beaches codenamed Sword and Juno. HMS X20 and HMS X23 arrived in position on 4 June and, due to the delay caused by bad weather, remained in position until 4:30am on the 6th. When they surfaced, the crew erected the navigational aids, an 18-foot telescopic mast with a light shining to seaward, a radio beacon and echo sounder tapping out a message for the minelayers approaching 'Sword' and 'Juno' beaches. A similar operation had been offered to the US landing forces to mark their beaches, but was declined. The submarines were at some risk of damage due to friendly fire and in an attempt to counter this Lieutenant Honour, the captain of HMS X23, acquired and flew an ensign of the size more normally used by capital ships.
The Axis side features one of most kept secret operations of the second world war. Exercise Tiger, an allied amphibious training operation at Slapton Sands off the English coast. Shortly after midnight on 28 April 1944, nine German torpedo boats moved into Lyme Bay after intercepting heavier than normal radio traffic. Within a few moments, the Schnellboots of the Kriegsmarine and their torpedoes found their mark. One LST (landing ship, tank) was seriously crippled. Another LST burst into flames and trapped many of the soldiers and sailors below deck. A third LST sank immediately, sending hundreds of U.S. soldiers and sailors to a watery grave. It was the costliest training exercise in all of World War II and held secret within the minds of the survivors for nearly 60 years. As the bodies washed ashore in days ahead, the official count rose to 749.
Quartermaster soldiers onboard LST 531 were among the hardest hit. The 3206th Quartermaster Service Company was virtually destroyed. Of its 251 officers and men, 201 were killed or wounded. The 557th Quartermaster Railhead Company also lost 69 men. When the remaining LSTs landed on Slapton Beach, the blunders continued and a further 308 men died from friendly fire.
Following an order made by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the British heavy cruiser HMS Hawkins shelled the beach with live ammunition. Eisenhower felt that the men must be hardened by exposure to real battle conditions. On the beaches a white tape line was laid on the beach indicating the point where Americans should not cross until the live firing had finished. As reported by the Royal Marines, the Americans were going straight through the white tape line and were killed after being blown up by friendly fire.
Schnellboote of the 9th flotilla were the first naval units to respond to the invasion fleet of Operation Overlord. They left Cherbourg harbor at 5am on 6 June 1944 and found themselves confronted by the entire invasion fleet. They fired their torpedoes at maximum range and returned to Cherbourg. As mentioned previously, Norwegian Destroyer HNoMS Svenner was sunk by torpedoes launched from these torpedo boats. All told, during World War II, the Schnellboote sank 101 merchant ships totaling 214,728 tons. In addition, they sank 12 destroyers, 11 minesweepers, eight landing ships, six MTBs, a torpedo boat, a minelayer, one submarine and a number of small merchant craft. They also damaged two cruisers, five destroyers, three landing ships, a repair ship, a naval tug and numerous merchant vessels.
Sea mines laid by the Schnellboote were responsible for the loss of 37 merchant ships totaling 148,535 tons, a destroyer, two minesweepers and four landing ships. In recognition of their service, the members of Schnellboot crews were awarded the Knight's Cross on 23 occasions, and the German Cross in Gold on 112 occasions. Shaped into an anchor, the phrase "TORPEDO LOS AUF MANÖVER TIGER" translates simply into English as Torpedo fired at Exercise Tiger. As in the previous coins, GOTT MIT UNS, the phrase upon every German Soldatin's belt buckle, is embossed upon a sunburst field just as it was in 1944. The phrase, WIR FAHREN GEGEN ENGELLAND, meaning, We Sail Against England, was a song written in tribute to the Kreigsmarine, encircles this dramatic scene. The Kriegsmarine emblem also adorns the coins' outer rim. This spectacular coin is minted in complete 3D protected by an epoxy coating. Help keep our event alive with this outstanding commemorative. The brave men sailing upon these restless waves, are so honored on our 2011 commemorative. Supplies are limited so don't delay in ordering yours.
