Corry conducted special operations with Radio Washington at Annapolis from 18 to 21 May 1942, then sailed to escort RMS Queen Elizabeth into New York Harbor 22 May.

Getting underway from Plymouth, England, she was the lead destroyer of the Normandy Invasion task force, escorting ships and transports across the English Channel.

As H-Hour (06:30) neared, when troops would begin fighting their way onto the beaches, the plane assigned to lay smoke for Corry was shot down, leaving the ship exposed to German shore batteries.

Still under heavy fire, Corry began sinking rapidly with her keel broken and a foot-wide crack across her main deck amidships.

After the order to abandon ship, crewmembers fought to survive in bone-chilling 12 °C (54 °F) water for more than two hours as they awaited rescue under constant enemy fire from German shore gunners.

One crewmember raised the American flag up Corry's main mast, which remained above the surface of the shallow 30-foot-deep (9.1 m) water when the ship settled on the bottom at 49°30′50″N 1°11′30″W / 49.51389°N 1.19167°W / 49.51389; -1.19167.

Initial reports by the commanding officer state that Corry was sunk by a salvo of heavy caliber projectiles, which detonated amidships below the water level in the engineering spaces and caused the breaking in half and sinking of the vessel.

[5] German reports also state that the Saint Marcouf (Crisbecq) battery commanded by Walter Ohmsen, located 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) inland, with its three 210-millimeter (8.25 in) guns scored a direct hit on an American warship at approximately H-Hour (0630), causing its sinking.