Pointe du Hoc is a promontory situated between two landing beaches that were taken by American forces in the Normandy Invasion. Formally part of the Omaha Beach invasion area (assault sector Charlie), it was itself the object of a daring seaborne assault on D-Day by U.S. Army rangers, who scaled its cliffs with the aim of silencing artillery pieces placed on its heights. Pointe du Hoc was an ominous piece of land jutting into the English Channel 4 miles (7 kilometres) west of Omaha Beach and 7 miles east of Utah Beach. It provided an elevated vantage point from which huge German guns with a range of 15 miles could deliver fire upon both of the American beaches. Allied intelligence and photoreconnaissance had identified five 155-millimetre guns emplaced in reinforced-concrete casemates on the Pointe, and Allied commanders had determined that the neutralization of these guns was the key to the fate of the Omaha and Utah landings. The area of the Pointe was defended by elements of the German 352nd Infantry Division.