The world's biggest roadstead
26 June 1944: leaning on the balustrade that surrounds the Fort du Roule, General Lawton Collins, commander of the VII corps of the US army, contemplated with satisfaction the spectacle below him.
After three weeks of gruelling combat, his men have just seized Cherbourg, one of the main objectives of the Normandy landings.
Why Cherbourg ?
Because the largest port in the Cotentin was to be the Allies' trump card.
Once the port was cleared of wrecks and mines, the Liberty Ships would be able to unload inside the vast, safe harbour their logisticians had been dreaming of: the 1,500 hectares of the Cherbourg roadstead, the biggest artificial roadstead in the world !
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Cherbourg, port of libération
The Germans launched a veritable challenge for the Americans in leaving behind them a port that was completely torn apart.
The achievements by the Americans were remarkable, since in less than two months the port was again operational, with a capacity matching that of the port of New York in November 1944.
Fresh supplies including fuel and equipment reached Cherbourg for the Allies.
To connect the troops and the port, different systems were put into place. One of the most spectacular was the “Pluto”, an oil pipeline underneath the sea from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, and then followed the progress of the Allies to Belgium, totalling more than 1,000 kilometres of pipeline.
Before it was put into use, the re-supplying of troops with fuel, equipment and food rations was ensured by the “red ball highway express”. This was a one-sided route that linked Cherbourg and Fontainebleau. The trucks moved along this route 24 hours a day.
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