00:00 - Introduction
Tyler is excited about his visit to a Glossier shop. While his wife was exploring ways to look even prettier, Tyler’s makeup-free mug was recognized by another patient husband. He didn’t ask for an autograph, but it’s a start.
6:44 - Mulberry Harbor
Eddie leads us into today’s topic: the two large harbors that were constructed in preparations for the D-Day Invasion of Normandy in 1944.
We won’t go deep into the historical details of the D-Day, but the invasion of Normandy that started on June 6 of that year would involve approximately 858,000 troops and 150,000 vehicles. The British and American military officials knew that tides would create challenges for putting all of those people and equipment on shore, so they designed and constructed two large harbors to assist in the process.
(Here is a ship-shipping ship like the one that Tyler referenced.)
14:33 - The Breakwaters
Eddie describes a couple of the elements used as breakwaters. One class of these was called the Phoenix caissons, which were essentially concrete ships that contained compartments that could be filled with air to float or water to sink and sit on the ocean floor.
Additional breakwater efforts came through a plan code named “corn cobs,” and it consisted of several “gooseberries,” obsolete military ships that were sunk at a depth where the superstructure would remain above water. These ships actually had crews that provided support to the smaller boats that were using the harbor.
20:25 - The Piers and the Timeline
We move on to discuss the modular piers constructed of what were called “whales and beetles.” Actual construction of the harbor (from the various components built in Britain) began on D-day, June 6. From there, Eddie outlines this timeline:
