Mulberry Harbors at Normandy

After the disastrous raid at Dieppe on the French coast in August 1942, Allied commanders concluded that an invasion of occupied France required a port, but not necessarily one seized from the enemy, and developed artificial harbors assembled from manufactured components towed across the English Channel. The final design used flexible bridging units resting on pontoons to connect the shore with anchored caissons and piers protected by a breakwater. Code named Mulberries, these harbors could unload nearly 7,000 tons of goods and vehicles each day and became critical to the invasion’s success. Construction began even as enemy fire still fell on invasion troops, and by 9 June two harbors were in place, Mulberry A at St. Laurent-sur-Mer on Omaha Beach and Mulberry B at Arromanches near Gold Beach. Intended to last only a few months until Cherbourg could be taken, the Arromanches harbor survived 10 months, including a disastrous storm on 19 June that destroyed Mulberry A, and Mulberry B alone landed more than 2.5 million men and 4 million tons of supplies. Each Mulberry used hollow concrete Phoenix blocks, 200 feet long by 60 feet wide and 60 feet tall, sunk to form foundations for piers and docks; Gooseberry breakwaters made from nearly 100 old block ships; Whale floating roadways atop Beetle pontoons; and Spud piers connecting to land. A completed Mulberry stretched nearly one mile and could accommodate seven Liberty ships at once. Their success also depended on thousands of Allied service personnel who built, towed, placed, constructed, and defended them. Among them, Patrol Craft 1232 escorted a convoy of block ships across the Atlantic to become Gooseberries at Normandy, then joined ships approaching Utah Beach early on D-Day, where it supported landing craft and towed a disabled barge to a nearby LEVP for transport ashore. Thirty-six hours later, on the night of June 7-8, a mine exploded beneath the engine and boiler room of USS Meredith, and PC-1232 was the first vessel to reach the damaged ship, taking off wounded and survivors despite darkness and enemy fire. It then returned to 30 more days of patrol, screening, and convoy duty off Omaha and Utah Beach. For these efforts, PC-1232 received commendation and its commanding officer received the Bronze Star.

Bedford, Virginia · United States