Operation Lucid
Encyclopedia
Operation Lucid was a British plan to use fire ship
s to attack invasion barges that were gathering in ports on the northern coast of France in preparation for a German invasion of Britain in 1940. The attack was initiated several times in September and October that year, but unreliable ships and unfavourable weather caused the plan to be aborted on each occasion.
and also sought to attack the enemy before any landings took place. As invasion barges were seen to gather in French ports along the English Channel
, the Royal Air Force
(RAF) was sent to attack them by bombing.
A series of experiments by the Petroleum Warfare Department (PWD) aimed to burn the invader's barges before they could reach the English shore. The first idea was simply to explode a vessel filled with oil, and this was tried at Maplin Sands
where a Thames oil tanker, Suffolk, with 50 tonnes of petroleum was blown up in shallow water. Another idea developed was that the oil should be held in place on the water by a trough formed from coir
matting. A machine formed the trough from a flat mat as it was paid out over the stern of a ship. Trials with the Ben Hann produced a flaming ribbon 880 yards long and 6 feet wide (800 m × 2 m) that could be towed at four knots. Neither of these experiments were carried forward to produce workable defences.
The Suffolk did, however, provide a trial run for an even more ambitious idea: the invasion barges would be burned even before they left port. The plan was first floated in early June/July 1940 and became known as Operation Lucid. Lucid had the full backing of Churchill
. The idea of using fire ships against Hitler's invasion as the English had attacked the Spanish Armada
in 1588 appealed to Churchill's sense of history; and, recalling a pre-emptive attack by Sir Francis Drake, Churchill said that just as Drake had "singed the King of Spain's beard
", he wanted to "singe Mr Hitler's moustache".
was chosen to lead the operation. Agar was an officer of the Royal Navy
, who had been awarded the Victoria Cross
(VC) in 1918 (the VC is the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces). Agar chose Morgan Morgan-Giles
as his staff officer because of his experience with setting explosive charges.
Oil tanker
s were required for the operation, but these were in short supply. Only the "oldest crocks laid up in our rivers and creeks which had not been to sea for years and were useless except for scrap metal" could be spared. Workers were put to the task of coaxing three of these old crocks back into service. Time was of the essence and Agar regretted that for the sake of secrecy he could not tell the workmen exactly what the ships were needed for, he was certain that they would have worked more enthusiastically had they known the truth. As a cover, the rumour that they were to be used as blockship
s was encouraged. Another problem with secrecy was the difficulty in acquiring reliable motor-boats on which the crew would escape; there was an unwillingness to release good boats to equip ancient oilers and there was a last minute panic to get speed-boats. The Oakfield and Royal Fleet Auxiliary
(RFA) ships War Nawab and War Nizam having been laid up for years were now coaxed back into service, but they were slow – less than six knots – and unreliable.
War Nizam was built in 1918 and War Nawab in 1919 by the Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
. Both ships were 412 feet (125.6 m) long and 52 in 4 in (15.95 m) abeam with a draft of 25 in 7 in (7.8 m) and a gross register tonnage
of about 5,600. Oakfield, which had previously served as War African, had been built in 1918 with a grt of 5,218, 401 feet (122.2 m) long and 52 in 3 in (15.93 m) abeam.
The ships were quickly made ready and filled with a cocktail of 50% heavy fuel oil, 25% diesel oil and 25% petrol developed by the PWD. Each ship was filled with between two and three thousand tons of this Agar’s Special Mixture. The leaky bulkheads caused the engine rooms of War Nawab to fill with fumes that caused men to pass out and later resulted in the harbourmaster
concluding that the crew were drunk. To this lethal load, bundles of cordite
, gun cotton and old depth charge
s were added to give the ships some punch.
The plan required ideal conditions of wind and tide. The idea was to sail at night until the fire ships were near the entrances of the target ports. Then all but two or three of the crew would be taken off, detonation timers would be set and each ship put to its final heading towards a harbour mouth. The remaining crew would escape in a motor boat at the last minute. When the explosives detonated, the fire ship's hold would rupture and with a ship in, or as close as possible to, the harbour mouth, a slick of burning fuel would be drawn into the harbour by the rising tide.
Chief Petty Officer Ronald Apps later recalled:
and headed towards Calais
; and the War Nawab set sail from Portsmouth
to Boulogne. A diversionary bombardment by the RAF was also ordered against Ostend
. A number of destroyers, motor torpedo boat
s and other vessels escorted the sacrificial victims. Agar commanded the operation from the destroyer Campbell. An unfavourable wind soon became a problem and the unreliable Oakfield soon dropped out of the operation; a little later the War Nizam suffered boiler problems, leaving only War Nawab. Unwilling to sacrifice the element of surprise and under orders from Churchill not to hesitate to call things off if the plan did not go well, Agar cancelled the operation. The recall order reached Nawab when she was just seven miles from Boulogne. Another attempt was made on 3 October, this was thwarted by bad weather, as was an attempt for the following night. On another occasion on the night of 7 to 8 October, an escorting destroyer with Agar on board was damaged by an acoustic mine
; the convoy scattered and the destroyer limped home. Plans were made for another attempt in early November, but by then Hitler
had postponed the invasion
and the Admiralty correspondingly postponed Operation Lucid. The plan was revived in the spring of 1941, but never put into action.
RFA War Nawab continued in service as an oil hulk until being broken up in 1958. In 1962, her ships bell was remounted on the Quarter Deck of the Royal New Zealand Navy
’s Sea Cadet Unit based at Wanganui
on New Zealand
’s North island
.
Fire ship
A fire ship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, deliberately set on fire and steered into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy ships, or to create panic and make the enemy break formation. Ships used as fire ships were usually old and worn out or...
s to attack invasion barges that were gathering in ports on the northern coast of France in preparation for a German invasion of Britain in 1940. The attack was initiated several times in September and October that year, but unreliable ships and unfavourable weather caused the plan to be aborted on each occasion.
Inception
Following the fall of France in July 1940, the Germans threatened to invade Britain. The British Government made frantic efforts to prepare to meet the threatened invasionBritish anti-invasion preparations of World War II
British anti-invasion preparations of the Second World War entailed a large-scale division of military and civilian mobilisation in response to the threat of invasion by German armed forces in 1940 and 1941. The British army needed to recover from the defeat of the British Expeditionary Force in...
and also sought to attack the enemy before any landings took place. As invasion barges were seen to gather in French ports along the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
(RAF) was sent to attack them by bombing.
A series of experiments by the Petroleum Warfare Department (PWD) aimed to burn the invader's barges before they could reach the English shore. The first idea was simply to explode a vessel filled with oil, and this was tried at Maplin Sands
Maplin Sands
The Maplin Sands are mudflats on the northern bank of the Thames estuary, off Foulness Island, near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, though they actually lie within the neighbouring borough of Rochford...
where a Thames oil tanker, Suffolk, with 50 tonnes of petroleum was blown up in shallow water. Another idea developed was that the oil should be held in place on the water by a trough formed from coir
Coir
Coir is a natural fibre extracted from the husk of coconut and used in products such as floor mats, doormats, brushes, mattresses etc. Technically coir is the fibrous material found between the hard, internal shell and the outer coat of a coconut. Other uses of brown coir are in upholstery...
matting. A machine formed the trough from a flat mat as it was paid out over the stern of a ship. Trials with the Ben Hann produced a flaming ribbon 880 yards long and 6 feet wide (800 m × 2 m) that could be towed at four knots. Neither of these experiments were carried forward to produce workable defences.
The Suffolk did, however, provide a trial run for an even more ambitious idea: the invasion barges would be burned even before they left port. The plan was first floated in early June/July 1940 and became known as Operation Lucid. Lucid had the full backing of Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
. The idea of using fire ships against Hitler's invasion as the English had attacked the Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada
This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
in 1588 appealed to Churchill's sense of history; and, recalling a pre-emptive attack by Sir Francis Drake, Churchill said that just as Drake had "singed the King of Spain's beard
Singeing the king of Spain's beard
Drake's 1587 expedition took place in the Bay of Cádiz, in April and May 1587. The English privateer, Francis Drake, led a military expedition against the Spanish naval forces assembling at Cádiz. Much of the Spanish fleet was destroyed, and substantial supplies were destroyed or captured. There...
", he wanted to "singe Mr Hitler's moustache".
Preparation
Augustus AgarAugustus Agar
Captain Augustus Willington Shelton Agar, VC, DSO, RN was a noted Royal Navy officer in both World War I and World War II and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.In...
was chosen to lead the operation. Agar was an officer of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, who had been awarded the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
(VC) in 1918 (the VC is the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces). Agar chose Morgan Morgan-Giles
Morgan Morgan-Giles
Rear-Admiral Sir Morgan Charles Morgan-Giles, DSO, OBE, GM was a British Admiral and Conservative Party politician.Morgan-Giles was educated at Clifton College and joined the Royal Navy. He commanded HMS Vigilant, Vernon 1959-60 and HMS Belfast 1961-62. He was President of the Royal Naval College,...
as his staff officer because of his experience with setting explosive charges.
Oil tanker
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
s were required for the operation, but these were in short supply. Only the "oldest crocks laid up in our rivers and creeks which had not been to sea for years and were useless except for scrap metal" could be spared. Workers were put to the task of coaxing three of these old crocks back into service. Time was of the essence and Agar regretted that for the sake of secrecy he could not tell the workmen exactly what the ships were needed for, he was certain that they would have worked more enthusiastically had they known the truth. As a cover, the rumour that they were to be used as blockship
Blockship
A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used.It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of HMS Hood at Portland Harbour; or it may be brought by enemy raiders and used to...
s was encouraged. Another problem with secrecy was the difficulty in acquiring reliable motor-boats on which the crew would escape; there was an unwillingness to release good boats to equip ancient oilers and there was a last minute panic to get speed-boats. The Oakfield and Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a civilian-manned fleet owned by the British Ministry of Defence. The RFA enables ships of the United Kingdom Royal Navy to maintain operations around the world. Its primary role is to supply the Royal Navy with fuel, ammunition and supplies, normally by replenishment...
(RFA) ships War Nawab and War Nizam having been laid up for years were now coaxed back into service, but they were slow – less than six knots – and unreliable.
War Nizam was built in 1918 and War Nawab in 1919 by the Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as Palmers, was a British shipbuilding company. The Company was based in Jarrow, in Northeast England and also had operations in Hebburn and Willington Quay on the River Tyne....
. Both ships were 412 feet (125.6 m) long and 52 in 4 in (15.95 m) abeam with a draft of 25 in 7 in (7.8 m) and a gross register tonnage
Gross Register Tonnage
Gross register tonnage a ship's total internal volume expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated from the total permanently enclosed capacity of the vessel. The ship's net register tonnage is obtained by reducing the volume of non-revenue-earning spaces i.e...
of about 5,600. Oakfield, which had previously served as War African, had been built in 1918 with a grt of 5,218, 401 feet (122.2 m) long and 52 in 3 in (15.93 m) abeam.
The ships were quickly made ready and filled with a cocktail of 50% heavy fuel oil, 25% diesel oil and 25% petrol developed by the PWD. Each ship was filled with between two and three thousand tons of this Agar’s Special Mixture. The leaky bulkheads caused the engine rooms of War Nawab to fill with fumes that caused men to pass out and later resulted in the harbourmaster
Harbourmaster
A harbourmaster is an official responsible for enforcing the regulations of a particular harbour or port, in order to ensure the safety of navigation, the security of the harbour and the correct operation of the port facilities.-Responsibilities:Harbourmasters are normally responsible for issuing...
concluding that the crew were drunk. To this lethal load, bundles of cordite
Cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...
, gun cotton and old depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s were added to give the ships some punch.
The plan required ideal conditions of wind and tide. The idea was to sail at night until the fire ships were near the entrances of the target ports. Then all but two or three of the crew would be taken off, detonation timers would be set and each ship put to its final heading towards a harbour mouth. The remaining crew would escape in a motor boat at the last minute. When the explosives detonated, the fire ship's hold would rupture and with a ship in, or as close as possible to, the harbour mouth, a slick of burning fuel would be drawn into the harbour by the rising tide.
Chief Petty Officer Ronald Apps later recalled:
Execution and cancellation
Late in the afternoon of 26 September 1940, War Nizam and Oakfield set sail from SheernessSheerness
Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....
and headed towards Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
; and the War Nawab set sail from Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
to Boulogne. A diversionary bombardment by the RAF was also ordered against Ostend
Ostend
Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
. A number of destroyers, motor torpedo boat
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
s and other vessels escorted the sacrificial victims. Agar commanded the operation from the destroyer Campbell. An unfavourable wind soon became a problem and the unreliable Oakfield soon dropped out of the operation; a little later the War Nizam suffered boiler problems, leaving only War Nawab. Unwilling to sacrifice the element of surprise and under orders from Churchill not to hesitate to call things off if the plan did not go well, Agar cancelled the operation. The recall order reached Nawab when she was just seven miles from Boulogne. Another attempt was made on 3 October, this was thwarted by bad weather, as was an attempt for the following night. On another occasion on the night of 7 to 8 October, an escorting destroyer with Agar on board was damaged by an acoustic mine
Acoustic mine
An acoustic mine is a type of naval mine which monitors audio activity in its vicinity. Depending on its design, it will either actively send out audio pulses, not unlike a sonar, listening to the speed at which the echo returns to it or passively listen to its environment, depending only on the...
; the convoy scattered and the destroyer limped home. Plans were made for another attempt in early November, but by then Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
had postponed the invasion
Operation Sealion
Operation Sea Lion was Germany's plan to invade the United Kingdom during the Second World War, beginning in 1940. To have had any chance of success, however, the operation would have required air and naval supremacy over the English Channel...
and the Admiralty correspondingly postponed Operation Lucid. The plan was revived in the spring of 1941, but never put into action.
RFA War Nawab continued in service as an oil hulk until being broken up in 1958. In 1962, her ships bell was remounted on the Quarter Deck of the Royal New Zealand Navy
Royal New Zealand Navy
The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
’s Sea Cadet Unit based at Wanganui
Wanganui
Whanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....
on New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
’s North island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
.
See also
- List of Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship names
- British anti-invasion preparations of World War IIBritish anti-invasion preparations of World War IIBritish anti-invasion preparations of the Second World War entailed a large-scale division of military and civilian mobilisation in response to the threat of invasion by German armed forces in 1940 and 1941. The British army needed to recover from the defeat of the British Expeditionary Force in...