Only three LSDs took part in the Normandy Landings, operated by the Royal Navy. This type had a huge open hold that could be flooded to let landing craft on or off so they could be carried overseas. This was a concept that had been trialed earlier in the war as a way of moving smaller craft over long sea distances.
On D-Day HMS Oceanway carried twenty LCMs to Omaha Beach, each with a single Sherman tank on board, while HMS Northway took forty-six DUKWs to Juno Beach. HMS Eastway crossed to Normandy after D-Day.
After D-Day, LSDs were sometimes used for returning damaged landing craft to the United Kingdom.
The Landing Ship, Dock was a landing ship rather than a landing craft, but contemporary accounts sometimes include this type in the total number of landing craft.