Two Allied battleships were scuttled as part of operations in Normandy. These were the British Centurion and French Courbet. Both scuttlings were part of the Allied plan, with the ships forming part of the 'Gooseberry' line of breakwaters. Each beach had its own Gooseberry, intended to provide basic shelter to landing craft and other small vessels operating off the beaches. They would also protect larger vessels while they were unloaded. They were differentiated from the better-known 'Mulberry' harbours by covering a wider area, but not having the floating ship-to-shore roadways and unloading facilities.

The 'Gooseberry's were made up of old ships, both merchant vessels and warships, under the codename of 'Corncobs'. All the 'Corncob's were surplus to requirements, and had minimal military value. Centurion, for example, had been demilitarised in 1926-27, with all her armament and her belt armour being removed. Following this, she served as a radio-controlled target ship for exercises and experiments, with live ordnance being used against her. Once WWII started, she was converted to a decoy ship, pretending to be the modern battleship Anson. She served in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, but saw little action in either area. Courbet had served as a training ship in the interwar period. During the war, she had been a floating anti-aircraft battery, an accommodation ship, and a target ship.

With the 'Corncob's largely demilitarised, they only had a small crew aboard when they were scuttled. Centurion had a crew of just 70, while Courbet (which had had her engines removed earlier in the war) had a crew of 35. The ships were moved into position off the beaches once they had been cleared, with the first 'Corncob's being sunk on the 7th June, D+1. Most made their way across the Channel under their own steam, though Courbet had to be towed. Once off the beaches, they were moved into their final resting positions by tugs. Then, scuttling charges were used to blow their bottoms out. The 'Corncob's generally ended up on the bottom with their decks and upperworks out of the water. This created an area sheltered from wind and waves. It also allowed the upper decks of the ships to be used for a variety of tasks - adding to the anti-aircraft defence of the beach, providing accommodation spaces, first aid facilities or areas for fuelling. Centurion was scuttled off Omaha in the afternoon of the 7th, while Courbet would be scuttled off Sword on the 9th (D+3). Neither ship would hold up well during the storm of the 19th-22nd, with Courbet taking damage and Centurion breaking her back. Both ships would remain in place, though, and would be scrapped after the war.