Assault Force U Operation Order No. 3-44

Assault Force U was the American naval force charged with landing VII Corps at Utah Beach on D-Day—the “U” denoted Utah. Iss...

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Assault Force U was the American naval force charged with landing VII Corps at Utah Beach on D-Day—the “U” denoted Utah. Issued on 15 May 1944, its Operation Order No. 3-44 was the plan for the seaborne assault, with maps, annexes and supporting papers marked BIGOT–Top Secret. The three original naval overlay maps gathered here are surviving parts of that extensive order, accompanied by Intelligence Plan sheets and Assembly and Staging papers bearing Serial 00010. They form a selected group, not the full order. The maps and papers were kept by Lieutenant Carl M. Good Jr, commander of the US Navy subchaser SC-1301. His vessel appears in the Assembly and Staging papers at Dartmouth. On 6 June she worked between the transport ships and Utah Beach, shepherding landing craft towards shore. Crewman Fletcher later recalled escorting craft into the beach; Good’s own account describes SC-1301 controlling the movement of landing craft from the transport area during the opening days of the invasion. Good retained this material after the war, and it remained in his family for over eighty years before consignment to auction in 2026. Certified letters trace its descent, while Navy muster rolls name Good in command.

Assault Force U was the American naval force charged with landing VII Corps at Utah Beach on D-Day—the “U” denoted Utah. Issued on 15 May 1944, its Operation Order No. 3-44 was the plan for the seaborne assault, with maps, annexes and supporting papers marked BIGOT–Top Secret. The three original naval overlay maps gathered here are surviving parts of that extensive order, accompanied by Intelligence Plan sheets and Assembly and Staging papers bearing Serial 00010. They form a selected group, not the full order. The maps and papers were kept by Lieutenant Carl M. Good Jr, commander of the US Navy subchaser SC-1301. His vessel appears in the Assembly and Staging papers at Dartmouth. On 6 June she worked between the transport ships and Utah Beach, shepherding landing craft towards shore. Crewman Fletcher later recalled escorting craft into the beach; Good’s own account describes SC-1301 controlling the movement of landing craft from the transport area during the opening days of the invasion. Good retained this material after the war, and it remained in his family for over eighty years before consignment to auction in 2026. Certified letters trace its descent, while Navy muster rolls name Good in command.

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