Relics of War - The Artificial Ports of World War II

The key to victory at D-Day in 1944 was to get troops ashore, consolidate the beaches and begin the push to Paris before the Germans could mount a successful counter-attack. To move the vast amount of troops and supplies, you need a deep water port. Unloading at sea to smaller vessels that can drop off supplies at a beach is simply not possible.

The Germans knew this, and it was at the heart of their defensive plan. They had to defend thousands of miles of coastland from Norway to Spain, but in reality, there were only a few places that the allies can land. A deep water port with suitable landing beaches nearby. Because for the allies to be successful, they had to get ashore and seize a port to open the way for follow-on troops. Without a port, the initial troops could easily be overwhelmed by German reinforcements.

That's one reason why the Germans dismissed Normandy as a landing point. The first reason was that it was much more difficult than Calais - the closest French port to England. But a second compelling reason against a landing in Normandy was the availability of ports. The closest port was Cherbourg, a good distance away to the Northwest. The Germans felt certain that in the event of an allied landing at Normandy, they could isolate the beaches before Cherbourg fell, and if it did, they could dynamite the port facilities (which they eventually did).

Certainly, the idea of constructing an artificial port occurred to them. But Normandy is almost not even in the English Channel. It's practically the Atlantic Ocean, which means big, thunderous waves and storms which would easily wreck a flimsy temporary port.

The Allied Solution was Mulberry - not just an artificial port, but an artificial bay. So, working in secret in England, they constructed massive floating concrete blocks (yes, concrete that can float!). These were hollowed out and affixed with rudders, so they could be steered like ships. Two-hundred feet long, they were built to match the precise depth of the water, so that when sunk, they would rest on the bottom, jutting out of the water just enough to accomplish their mission. Once completed in England, they were quietly sunk in the estuary of the River Thames, where they would be invisible to German aircraft flying overhead, and easily re-floated by pumping them full of water.

Shortly after the D-Day landings, Mulberry went into operation. There were two ports planned. The concrete blocks were re-floated, and along with the steel components for the artificial port itself, they were slowly, carefully towed across the English channel.

One port was planned at the French coastal town of Arromanches, situated on a narrow flatland between two large hills. Located between the American Omaha Beach and the British Gold Beach, it was secured a few days after D-Day. Below is a picture of Arromanches today, which I took on my visit in late March:

As you can see, many of the massive concrete pilings are still there. Linked together in a continuous chain, and supplemented by the deliberate sinking of old freighters, they formed the breakwater which turned this turbulent beach into a relatively calm and easily navigable bay. As you can see, the line of concrete blocks stretched out from the coast on either side of the town, going more than a mile out to sea, forming a protective bubble. In the next photo, you can see some of the blocks further out from the coast.

Within this bubble, the remarkable port was built. Named Port Winston after the British Prime Minister, it consisted of additional concrete blocks linked with massive steel piers sunk well off of the coast, in deep water that even the largest freighters could navigate. These piers were then linked to land by two long bridges consisting of steel sections of road (see below) that would sit atop large, anchored floats that would litterally allow the bridge to bend, but not break, with the gentle (thanks to the breakwaters) sea.

Looking at this bridge section, you can easily imagine how the floats would have been attached where the concrete piers are today.

When it was completed, the two spans of roadway allowed for continuous flow of traffic - one direction with cargo-laden trucks heading to the beaches and another for the empty trucks to return and pick up a new load of supplies.

It was all organized with typical American assembly-line efficiency, and the ultimate effect was a flood of supplies that secured our invasion beachhead and allowed for the quick breakout which devastated the German Army. Along with a massive underwater pipeline that pumped fuel for our trucks, tanks and airplanes directly underneath the English Channel, these logistical innovations made possible the fastest-moving military offensive in world history. And time was crucial. Hitler, realizing France was lost, gave orders to his commanders to blow up the entire city of Paris. But the advancing Allied armies were too fast, and their quick advance to the city (and the traitorous action of a German officer who delayed the laying of explosives until it was too late) saved the French capitol from destruction.

Ultimately, a massive storm smashed one of the two Mulberry ports, but by then, the issue was virtually decided. They gave the Allies a crucial window in which to build up supplies. Before long, the harbor of Cherbourg was cleared and additional harbors were seized. The Mulberry ports had done their job, and faded into history.

Their remains to this day are a testament to the genius and determination of allied engineers, and the ultimate truth that strategy wins battles, but logistics wins wars. They were possible because the free world, when united and determined, can come up with innovative, out-of-the-box solutions that can match and beat the best that fascism and tyranny can come up with. They were an important part of the greatest effort of the greatest generation: the crucial battle that won the war and liberated millions, and to this day remains the greatest moment in American history. I'll speak more about that moment, that crucial day, next time.