Operation PLUTO

Operation PLUTO (Pipe - Lines Under The Ocean ) was an operation by British scientists to transport fuel through an undersea pipeline running from the UK through the Channel to France. The plan was developed by Arthur Hartley, chief engineer of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company ( AIOC ), after being conceived by Admiral Louis Mountbatten.

The first prototypes of the pipeline were tested in May 1942 through the course of the River Medway and in June by the Firth of Clyde successful. Then began the production.

The first pipeline was laid on August 12, 1944 between the Isle of Wight and Cherbourg; she was 70 nautical miles (130 km) long. On October 10, 1944 pipeline from Dungeness to Cherbourg ( and later also in the Pas -de- Calais ) was laid. Tractor attracted huge drums over the canal and reeled off this plastic pipes over a distance of 67 nautical miles, according to which they were linked together and laid on the seabed. The operation was carefully prepared and completed within ten hours.

The performance of the pipeline was still in January 1945, around 300 tonnes of fuel per day; they grew rapidly thereafter to more than 4,000 tons per day. As at the date of the German surrender, 651 million liters of fuel were pumped through the pipeline. In addition to the Mulberry harbors PLUTO is considered one of the greatest military engineering history.

With the pipelines, the Allies avoided by German attacks (eg submarines ) to lose tankers in the English Channel.

Rolling on the Conundrum

Ready Conundrum

Pumping station on the south coast

Laying