Question:
Is Caen really a bigger port than Cherbourg?
Answer:
Surprisingly, Caen is a more important port than Cherbourg. Cherbourg was a premier port for ocean liners in the pre-war period, but Caen was the heavy-duty cargo port of the area. This explains part of the Allies planning on capturing Caen early in the Normandy campaign, as they hoped to capture the port. In the event, the Germans blocked the British back from taking the port in the early days of the campaign, and then they wrecked the locks system that gave access to the port, so extensively that the port was rendered of little use for the remainder of the war.
Source:
[TEM 38/39]
