Military History | How To Make War | Wars Around the World Rules of Use How to Behave on an Internet Forum
World War II - West Front Discussion Board
   Return to Topic Page
Subject: Hmm, MFP thread seems closed
Black Hornet    10/23/2010 4:58:33 AM
Er Factfinder, perhaps re-read 1st post, there is no firing from a rolling deck, I posted clearly that firing occurs only after said landing craft is on the beach, hence secured. Might be good to read before issuing comments like "tenuous grip on reality" & names like "fool" Against the rules it is. Landing craft would carry posts & other securing methods well worked out in advance in trial runs. Weight & recoil considerations are the 2 factors. The Germans did consider carrying 5.9 inch guns to the British shore for this exact purpose, to hit back at RN ships from the British side. To strengthen German control of the Channel Narrows, the Army planned to quickly establish mobile artillery batteries along the English shoreline once a beachhead had been firmly established. Towards that end, 16th Army’s Artillerie Kommand 106 was slated to land with the second wave to provide fire protection for the transport fleet as early as possible. This unit consisted of 24 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and 72 10 cm (3.9 in) guns. About one third of them were to be deployed on English soil by the end of Sea Lion’s first week.[23] The presence of these batteries was expected to greatly reduce the threat posed by British destroyers and smaller craft along the eastern approaches as the guns would be sited to cover the main transport routes from Dover to Calais and Hastings to Boulogne. They could not entirely protect the western approaches, but a large area of those invasion zones would still be within effective range.[23] The British military was well aware of the dangers posed by German artillery dominating the Dover Strait and on 4 September 1940 the Chief of Naval Staff issued a memo stating that if the Germans "...could get possession of the Dover defile and capture its gun defences from us, then, holding these points on both sides of the Straits, they would be in a position largely to deny those waters to our naval forces". Should the Dover defile be lost, he concluded, the Royal Navy could do little to interrupt the flow of German supplies and reinforcements across the Channel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Sealion So the question remains, MFP's were heavier duty transport craft than most available 1940 barges etc. 6 inch guns posed no problem for invasion craft. 8 inch were less available, but certainly weighed less than Tiger tanks at 62 tons.
 
Quote    Reply

Show Only Poster Name and Title     Newest to Oldest



 Latest
 News
 
 Most
 Read
 
 Most
 Commented
 Hot
 Topics