The waves at the Mulberry Harbours

A severe storm shortly after the deployment of Mulberry Harbours during the D-Day landings (June 1944) resulted in significant wave damage, particularly to the American harbour and severely to the British one. Using hindcast data from ECMWF and SWAN modelling, researchers found that waves were notably more intense at the American site than the British, which may explain the differential damage observed. The study also validated the commonly cited storm severity estimate of 1 in 40 years for summer storms in this region, providing critical insights into historical ocean engineering challenges.

Jackson, Z., Grey, S., Adcock, T. A. A., Taylor, P. H., & Bidlot, J.-R. (2017). The waves at the Mulberry Harbours. Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy, 3(3), 285–292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40722-017-0088-4