Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #lct7074
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RIP His Royal Highness Prince Philip.
Prince Philip's war service is usually summarised as getting a Mention in Despatches at the Battle of Cape Matapan and saving HMS Wallace at Sicily. But I feel this overlooks so much more, and occasionally errors creep in, so here we go.
Prince Philip's war service is usually summarised as getting a Mention in Despatches at the Battle of Cape Matapan and saving HMS Wallace at Sicily. But I feel this overlooks so much more, and occasionally errors creep in, so here we go.
After completing officer training at Dartmouth, on 23 February 1940 the 18 year old midshipman joined HMS Ramillies at Colombo. He would spend most of 1940 with the venerable battleship and the cruisers Kent and Shropshire. 📷 IWM A8858
Early in 1941 he joined the battleship HMS Valiant in the Mediterranean. The Royal website confusingly claims that Philip joined HMS Valiant at the age of 17, which isn’t really possible. It appears he joined her in January 1941, at the age of 19. 📷IWM A12126
Hugely enjoyable chat with @James1940 and @almurray on @WeHaveWaysPod today. Lots of chat about some of my favourite subjects - we were going to talk about Coastal Forces but almost immediately got side-tracked by landing Craft and D-Day! play.acast.com/s/wehaveways/2…
As some of you know my archaeological speciality is concrete, which sounds easy (or dull) but is really quite fascinating. To listen to two concrete specialists nerds) discussing WWII concrete, check out this @CITiZAN1 discussion with @ckolonko and myself.
The number of vessels involved is phenomenal. Some 7,000 vessels of all types were involved, although the exact number varies according to source (Official History on left, Admiralty Staff History on right). These are assigned numbers: I'm working on the exact number that sailed.
As we're back in lockdown, here's a chart for you all. Think you know your Normandy beaches? There were far more important names out at sea.
In answer to some of the questions I've been asked, I compiled this from four separate charts, contained in the Admiralty staff history and the navigation orders issued to #LCT7074. The zones are areas of navigation, patrol and exclusion. Scallops for example, was a minefield.
Mason was a patrol line for PT boats. Mountain was an area where RN MTBs had free reign and any other vessels found in it were expected to be hostile (until the Cotentin Peninsula was liberated of course). #MGB81 is possibly returning from Mountain in this photo. 📷IWM A24047
It's disappointing to see the success of #LCT7074's move used to air a grievance with a museum. It's more disappointing when that grievance is based on #duffhistory.
It's time to stop this myth: Secret frogmen didn't land on the Normandy beaches hours ahead of the invasion. 1/11
It's time to stop this myth: Secret frogmen didn't land on the Normandy beaches hours ahead of the invasion. 1/11
10 Landing Craft Obstacle Clearance Units (LCOCU) were at Normandy – 4 at Juno, 4 at Gold, 2 at Sword. Their role was to clear underwater obstacles & obstructions so landing craft could reach the beach. But they did it after the leading waves had touched down. 📷IWM A28997. 2/11
The first D-Day landings were planned to be just after low tide, when obstacles were exposed. Behind them came the LCOCU and Royal Engineer units. As the tide came in, LCOCU would work on obstacles as they were immersed, whilst the RE would work on the beach. 📷IWM A 23993. 3/11
I've been asked a few times (both on social media and in person) about #LCT7074's eclectic markings, so here are a few details to help make sense of it all. 1/7
The H in front of her pennant on the bow is her squadron, and the 17 is her flotilla. These were only on the bow, not the stern. The size of the pennant conforms to Confidential Admiralty Fleet Orders 2189/43 & helpfully the outline was engraved into the hull by the builders. 2/7
The yellow band around the bridge is the force identifier for Force L, the immediate follow up wave that landed at Sword, Juno and Gold beaches (7074 went to Gold). This has raised quite a few eyebrows I know, because a lot of people expected it to be red... 3/7
