Why only one of two massive artificial harbours survived the 1944 storm
In short: Two pre-assembled ports were moved by Allied forces via the English Channel to Normandy during June 1944. This video explores the engineering behind these massive structures and why one was destroyed by a gale while the other endured.
To avoid fortified French ports that retreating garrisons would demolish, Britain secretly engineered and built two harbours consisting of roughly 400 components weighing about 1.5 million tons. These were towed to the coast by 150 tugs at four knots.
While both harbours became operational within twelve days, a north-easterly gale starting 19 June—the worst June storm in forty years—struck both. Mulberry A, located at Omaha Beach, was lost, but Mulberry B at Arromanches survived. After being repaired with salvage from the American site, Mulberry B operated as Port Winston for months beyond its ninety-day design life.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: The Harbour America "Brought" to D-Day Was British — And Only One of the Two Survived
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