Armies Afloat: How the Development of Amphibious Operations in Europe Helped Win World War II

How the US services prepared for the largest amphibious operation in history.

American forces storming the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, is one of the most famous moments in US military history. But behind this iconic assault is the long-overlooked history of learning and innovation. Significantly, the amphibious forces taken ashore that day were overwhelmingly army soldiers, with sailors and airmen in support. Before the army could launch such an endeavor, however, it had to learn how to conduct amphibious operations against a contested shore.

Creating this capability required a concerted, deliberate effort. Involving an extensive joint endeavor of air, naval, and ground forces, amphibious assault strategy developed over the course of four years. In Armies Afloat, John Curatola leads readers through US Army’s amphibious development and capabilities by examining six components: command relationships, ship-to-shore movement, naval surface fire support, air support, beachhead establishment, and logistics and communication. The men, material, processes, and coordination involved in developing such a large-scale amphibious capability was something truly new in warfare. Through a constant process of assessment and review, US forces adjusted methodologies at all levels of war and successfully outpaced—and ultimately defeated—the European Axis powers.

John Curatola is Samuel Zemurray-Stone Senior Historian at the National World War II Museum and served as a Marine Corps officer for twenty-two years. He is the author of Bigger Bombs for a Brighter Tomorrow: Strategic Air Command and American War Plans at the Dawn of the Atomic Age, 1945–1950 and Autumn of Our Discontent: Fall 1949 and the Crises in American National Security.