![Arromanches Mulberry-Harbour Phoenix-Elements 1 90](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Arromanches_Mulberry-Harbour_Phoenix-Elements_1_90.jpg)
The Phoenix
breakwater
Breakwater may refer to:
* Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour
Places
* Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia
* Breakwater Island
Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...
s were a set of reinforced concrete
caissons built as part of the artificial
Mulberry harbours that were assembled as part of the preparations for the
Normandy landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
during World War II. They were constructed by civil engineering contractors around the coast of Britain. They were collected at
Dungeness
Dungeness () is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the hamlet ...
and
Selsey
Selsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about eight miles (12 km) south of Chichester in West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea. It is bounde ...
, and then towed by
tugboats
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
across the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
and sunk to form the Mulberry harbour breakwaters replacing the initial "
Gooseberry" block ships.
Caissons were added in the autumn of 1944 to reinforce the existing structure to cope with the harbour continuing in use longer than planned.
![Mulberry at portland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Mulberry_at_portland.JPG)
Several Phoenix breakwaters still exist in Britain: two are part of the harbour off
Castletown at
Portland Harbour
Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its surface area made it the largest man-made harbour in the world, and rema ...
in
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, and two can be dived in less than 10 metres of water off
Pagham
Pagham is a coastal village and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, England, with a population of around 6,100. It lies about two miles to the west of Bognor Regis.
Governance
Pagham is part of the electoral ward called Pagham a ...
in
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...
. There is also a smaller Phoenix Caisson (type C) in
Langstone Harbour
Langstone Harbour is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hampshire. It is an inlet of the English Channel in Hampshire, sandwiched between Portsea Island to the south and west, Hayling Island to the south and east, and Lan ...
in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
.
A wrecked Phoenix breakwater is also to be seen, broken in two, in the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
estuary off
Shoeburyness in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
. It broke while being towed from
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...
in June 1944. To avoid it causing a hazard to shipping in the Thames estuary, it was beached on the mud on the northern edge of the Thames dredged shipping channel. It is about a mile from the beach. It is not quite covered at high tide, but it is topped by a beacon to warn shipping of its presence.
Several Phoenix breakwaters were used in the
Netherlands
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
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to plug gaps in the dykes, four of them for a dyke at
Ouwerkerk
Ouwerkerk is a village in the southwest Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, Zeeland about 60 km south of Rotterdam.
History
Ouwerkerk is the oldest village of the former island of Duiveland, possibly founde ...
after the
North Sea Flood of 1 February 1953. These four have now been converted into a museum for the floods called the
Watersnoodmuseum
The Watersnoodmuseum or Flood Museum in Ouwerkerk, Netherlands is the "National Knowledge and Remembrance Centre for the Floods of 1953" and offers an in-depth picture of the events during and after the flood of 1 February 1953. The museum was o ...
. One can walk through the four caissons.
Two of the Phoenix breakwaters were sold to
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
in 1949, initially towed to
Frihamnen
Frihamnen is a neighbourhood of Malmö, situated in the Borough of Centrum, Malmö Municipality
Malmö Municipality ( sv, Malmö kommun), or City of Malmö (''Malmö stad''), is a Swedish municipality in Skåne County, the southernmost of the ...
port in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
and moved on 20 September 1956 to the newly-built heat and power plant in
Hässelby
Hässelby is a Swedish town that is a part of Hässelby-Vällingby in the city of Stockholm, Sweden, comprising the suburban areas Hässelby Gård, Hässelby Strand and Hässelby Villastad. The territory also corresponds to Hässelby parish in ...
where they remain as of 2021.
See also
*
Mulberry harbour
References
External links
The Mulberry Harbour Units, Portland, Dorset
The Watersnoodmuseum, Ouwerkerk, The Netherlands
{{coord, 50, 34, 16, N, 2, 26, 34, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
Breakwaters
Operation Neptune
Buildings and structures in England