Mulberry harbours
멀버리 인공항
Mulberry harbours were temporary portable ports built in Britain and towed across the Channel for rapid unloading of troops, vehicles, and supplies after the Normandy landings in June 1944. Made up of breakwaters, concrete caissons, floating piers, and connecting roadways, they sustained the beachhead until French ports could be captured and repaired.
In depth
The 1942 Dieppe Raid demonstrated that sustaining a large invasion force would be difficult without a usable port. The British Admiralty and War Office therefore developed a system in which harbour facilities were prefabricated in Britain and secretly towed to Normandy. U.S. forces assembled Mulberry A off Omaha Beach, while British and Canadian forces assembled Mulberry B off Gold Beach. Scuttled ships and concrete caissons formed the breakwaters, while floating piers and roadways connected ships to shore. Mulberry B operated for about ten months from June 1944, whereas Mulberry A was badly damaged by a storm on 19 June and abandoned.
Name and scope
‘Mulberry’ was the codename for the complete harbour system, distinct from the individual concrete caissons and floating roadways that formed it.
Related historical events
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) (supports the two temporary portable harbours, their purpose in Normandy, components, deployment, and June 1944 operation)
- iwm.org.uk (Imperial War Museums, supports the harbours' development after the Dieppe raid and their role in sustaining the Normandy invasion)
- history.navy.mil (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, supports the Mulberries' use as protected man-made harbours off Normandy in June 1944)