Anchorage

Utah

FranceCotentin

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Seabed: sand
Anchoring: Allowed

Open roadstead off Utah Beach on the east coast of the Cotentin peninsula, Normandy. Sand bottom.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from seaward across the Baie de Seine. No shelter from winds with any northerly or easterly component. Watch for fishing pot markers and residual WWII obstacles charted along the foreshore. Tidal streams run strongly parallel to the coast on the Barfleur to Pointe de Barfleur axis.

Practical

No services afloat. Anchor on sand in settled weather only. Nearest ports of refuge: Quinéville 5.7 NM NW and Grandcamp-Maisy 6.8 NM SE.

Ashore

Utah Beach Landing Museum at Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, on the dune line directly behind the anchorage. Landing monuments and preserved bunkers along the coastal footpath. Village of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont with bakery and shop about 3 km inland.

History

Utah was the westernmost of the five Allied landing sectors on 6 June 1944. Troops of the US 4th Infantry Division came ashore here at low water, several kilometres south of the planned position, and pushed inland through the flooded marshes toward Sainte-Mère-Église.