Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications . In modern times, coastal artillery has generally been replaced with anti-ship missiles , such as the Ukrainian R-360 Neptune .
113-781: The Dover Strait coastal guns were long-range coastal artillery batteries that were sited on both sides of the English Channel during the Second World War . The British built several gun positions along the coast of Kent , England while the Germans fortified the Pas-de-Calais in occupied France . The Strait of Dover was strategically important because it is the narrowest part of the English channel. Batteries on both sides attacked shipping as well as bombarding
226-605: A connection to the Greenway which promises to be an important network of quality. Between 2007 and 2011, the total length of cycle paths has doubled to 46 km (29 mi) in total length. It is possible to rent bicycles through agencies of the Océane bus or from the town hall (Vel-H) which has them on hand. Finally, 140 taxis work in Le Havre and serve 25 stations. Le Havre is one of two sub-prefectures of Seine-Maritime and
339-456: A derivative role in international law and diplomacy, wherein a country's three-mile limit of "coastal waters" is recognized as under the nation or state's laws. One of the first recorded uses of coastal artillery was in 1381—during the war between Ferdinand I of Portugal and Henry II of Castile —when the troops of the King of Portugal used cannons to defend Lisbon against an attack from
452-512: A high level today. Changes in years 1990–2000 were numerous. The right won the municipal elections and committed the city to the path of reconversion, seeking to develop the service sector and new industries ( aeronautics , wind turbines ). The Port 2000 project increased the container capacity to compete with ports of northern Europe, transformed the southern districts of the city, and ocean liners returned. Modern Le Havre remains deeply influenced by its employment and maritime traditions. Its port
565-530: A large thickness of chalk measuring up to 200 m (656 ft) deep. Because of the slope the coast is affected by the risk of landslides. Due to its location on the coast of the Channel, the climate of Le Havre is temperate oceanic . Days without wind are rare. There are maritime influences throughout the year. According to the records of the meteorological station of the Cap de la Heve (from 1961 to 1990),
678-517: A month later on 25 June he ordered Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ( OKW , supreme command of the armed forces) to begin preparation and feasibility studies, which had to be completed by 2 July, for the invasion of Britain . In an OKW directive on 10 July, operational coastal batteries under the control of the Kriegsmarine would support the invasion fleet. All preparations are to be made to provide strong frontal and flank artillery protection for
791-472: A new area is being developed: "Les Hauts de Bleville". This eco-district made up of housing units to HQE standards, a Joint Development Area (ZAC), and a school should have a total of 1,000 housing units. The peripheral suburbs of the commune grew in the postwar period. These are large housing estates in Caucriauville, Bois de Bleville, Mont-Gaillard, and Mare-rouge where a disadvantaged population
904-474: A stationary platform and are thus more accurate (and can be larger, with more ammunition stowage) than those on board ships. Super-heavy railway guns can only be traversed by moving the entire gun and its carriage along a curved track, or by building a special cross track or turntable. This, combined with their slow rate of fire (measured in rounds per hour or even rounds per day), makes it difficult for them to hit moving targets. Another problem with super-heavy guns
1017-520: A string of reinforced concrete pillboxes and bunkers along the beaches, or sometimes slightly inland, to house machine guns , antitank guns , and artillery ranging in size up to the large 40.6 cm naval guns . The intent was to destroy Allied landing craft before they could unload. During the Normandy Landings in 1944, shore bombardment was given a high importance, using ships from battleships to destroyers and landing craft. For example,
1130-418: A target to reduce emissions of CO 2 by 3% per year. To achieve this solar panels have been installed on several municipal buildings (city hall, hanging gardens). Since 2008, Le Havre has been part of the network of Energy Cities and, in this context, it applies the steps of Agenda 21 and an Environmental Approach to Urban Planning. The city has received many awards of eco-labels several times (Energy of
1243-546: Is a TGV daily service to Le Havre: it has connected the city to Marseille since December 2004 serving Rouen, Mantes-la-Jolie , Versailles , Massy , Lyon , Avignon , Aix-en-Provence , and Saint Charles station in Marseille. There are also local services from Le Havre station to Rolleville and Fécamp. Le Havre-Graville station in the eastern part of the city is served by trains to Rolleville. No direct rail link connects Le Havre and Caen yet many projects – known as
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#17327795119491356-722: Is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France . It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux , very close to the Prime Meridian . Le Havre is the most populous commune of Upper Normandy, although the total population of the greater Le Havre conurbation is smaller than that of Rouen . After Reims , it
1469-454: Is also attested in similar forms such as estable and probably dates back to the ancient Scandinavian stafn . When founded in 1517, the city was named Franciscopolis after Francis I of France . It was subsequently named Le Havre-de-Grâce ("Harbor of Grace"; hence Havre de Grace, Maryland ). Its construction was ordered to replace the ancient harbours of Honfleur and Harfleur whose utility had decreased due to silting. The history of
1582-490: Is also the second largest subprefecture in France. The name Le Havre means "the harbour" or "the port". Its inhabitants are known as Havrais or Havraises . The city and port were founded by King Francis I in 1517. Economic development in the early modern period was hampered by religious wars , conflicts with the English, epidemics, and storms. It was from the end of the 18th century that Le Havre started growing and
1695-439: Is also the third best city in France with more than 100,000 inhabitants for air quality. A Carbon accounting showed in 2009 that the municipality ejected some 32,500 tonnes of CO 2 per year. In 2011 the average annual emissions of sulfur dioxide by industry was between three micrograms per cubic metre in the centre of Le Havre to twelve micrograms per cubic metre in the district of Caucriauville. The municipality has set
1808-541: Is concentrated. In October 2004 the National Agency for Urban Renewal (ANRU) signed with the municipality of Havre the first agreement to finance the rehabilitation of these areas. This finance agreement provides more than 340 million euros for the housing estates in the northern districts, where about 41,000 people reside. This development extends the budget for the Grand Projet de Ville (GPV). It allows
1921-654: Is located 50 kilometres (31 miles) west of Rouen on the shore of the English Channel and at the mouth of the Seine . Numerous roads link to Le Havre with the main access roads being the A29 autoroute from Amiens and the A13 autoroute from Paris linking to the A131 autoroute . Administratively, Le Havre is a commune in the Normandy region in the west of the department of Seine-Maritime . The urban area of Le Havre corresponds roughly to
2034-437: Is revitalizing areas neglected by industrial and port activities by developing tertiary activities. Thus, the docks have been completely transformed into sports and entertainment complexes ( Dock Océane ), a mall (Docks Vauban), and an exhibition hall (Docks Café). Les Bains Des Docks was designed by the architect Jean Nouvel . At the end of 2012 students from Sciences-Po Europe Asia and from INSA integrated new buildings next to
2147-424: Is subject to a rising water table . The lack of watercourses within the commune prevents flooding from overflows. Le Havre's beach may rarely experience flooding known as "flooding from storms". These are caused by the combination of strong winds, high waves, and a large tidal range . A study by Aphekom comparing ten large French cities showed that Le Havre is the least polluted urban commune of France. Le Havre
2260-436: Is that their barrels (which are difficult to make and expensive to replace) wear out relatively quickly, so they could not be fired often. Better suited for use against naval targets were the four heavy naval batteries installed by mid-September: Friedrich August , Prinz Heinrich , Oldenburg and Siegfried (later renamed Todt ) – a total of eleven guns, with the firepower of a battlecruiser . Fire control for these guns
2373-537: Is the Transport hub of Lyon . Many holiday destinations are offered each year ( Tunisia , Balearic Islands, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria , etc.) through local travel agencies that charter aircraft. There is also the Flying club Jean Maridor at the airport. The Channel maritime links with Portsmouth in southern England with P&O Ferries ended on 30 September 2005 to be taken over by LD Lines who had changed
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#17327795119492486-419: Is the second largest in France, after that of Marseille , for total traffic, and the largest French container port. In 2005, UNESCO inscribed the central city of Le Havre as a World Heritage Site because of its unique post-WWII reconstruction and architecture. The André Malraux Modern Art Museum is the second of France for the number of impressionist paintings . The city has been awarded two flowers by
2599-769: The Heer . These guns had an effective range of 45 km (28 mi). Designed as successors to the World War I Paris gun , they had a maximum range of 115 km (71 mi). Shell fragments were found near Chatham, Kent , about 88 km (55 mi) from the French coast. Both guns, which were operated by Artillerie-Batterie 701 (E), remained on the Channel Coast until the Liberation of France in July 1944. Most of
2712-668: The A29 autoroute (E44) has connected Le Havre to the north of France and passes over the Normandy Bridge which makes Amiens (in the north-east) two hours away and Caen (in the south-west) one hour. The TER network was modernized with the creation of the LER line in 2001 and direct services to Fécamp in 2005. Thirteen Corail trains of the Paris–Le Havre line link Le Havre station with Bréauté-Beuzeville, Yvetot , Rouen and Paris Saint-Lazare station . In addition there
2825-750: The Battle of Britain , the British did not have an immediate answer to the threat posed by the German coastal batteries. However, the high ground to either side of the Port of Dover was fortified on the personal order of Prime Minister Winston Churchill (who had visited the area to see the situation in person) and wanted large calibre guns dug in there. The only British cross-Channel guns already in place were two BL 14 inch Mk VII (35.6 cm) guns Winnie (named after Churchill) and – later in 1940 – Pooh (named after
2938-530: The Endicott Board recommended an extensive program of new U.S. harbor defenses , featuring new rifled artillery and minefield defenses; most of the board's recommendations were implemented. Construction on these was initially slow, as new weapons and systems were developed from scratch, but was greatly hastened following the Spanish–American War of 1898. Shortly thereafter, in 1907, Congress split
3051-556: The First World War (named Gladiator , Scene Shifter and Piece Maker [sic]) were brought out of retirement in 1939 and mounted on railway chassis. The British coast batteries sank: This gunnery duel, along with heavy German shelling and bombing of Dover strait and the Dover area, led to this stretch of the Channel being nicknamed Hellfire Corner and led to 3,059 alerts, 216 civilian deaths and damage to 10,056 premises in
3164-589: The French Revolution but was not imposed. However it explains why the complementary determinant -de-Grace was not restored. This qualifier undoubtedly referred to the Chapel of Notre Dame located at the site of the cathedral of the same name . The chapel faced the Chapel Notre Dame de Grace of Honfleur across the estuary. The common noun havre meaning "port" was out of use at the end of
3277-491: The Grosser Kurfürst Battery at Floringzelle near Cap Gris Nez, ending the duels. Dover was finally freed from bombardment and to mark the event the town's mayor was sent a German flag from the batteries. Between Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer considerable parts of the concrete gun emplacements and associated bunkers remain accessible, although often in somewhat dangerous conditions. One of the casemates of
3390-528: The Hanging Gardens and Fort Tourneville hosted the Tetris project in 2013 – an axis of contemporary music with concert halls and rehearsal studios. To the north of the "coast" suburban districts such as Rouelles, Sainte-Cecile, la Mare au Clerc, Sanvic, Bleville, and Dollemard were developed during the first half of the 19th century. In their extension North-west between Bleville and Octeville airport
3503-476: The Mesozoic period. The Paris Basin consists of sedimentary rocks . The commune of Le Havre consists of two areas separated by a natural cliff edge: one part in the lower part of the town to the south including the harbour, the city centre and the suburbs. It was built on former marshland and mudflats that were drained in the 16th century. The soil consists of several metres of alluvium or silt deposited by
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3616-476: The Seine . The city centre was rebuilt after the Second World War using a metre of flattened rubble as a foundation. The upper town to the north, is part of the cauchois plateau : the neighbourhood of Dollemard is its highest point (between 90 and 115 metres (295 and 377 feet) above sea level ). The plateau is covered with a layer of flinty clay and a fertile silt . The bedrock consists of
3729-666: The Siege of Port Arthur , Japanese forces had captured the vantage point on 203 Meter Hill overlooking Port Arthur harbor. After relocating heavy 11-inch (280 mm) howitzers with 500 pound (~220 kg) armor-piercing shells to the summit of the Hill, the Japanese bombarded the Russian fleet in the harbor, systematically sinking the Russian ships within range. The Japanese were attacking
3842-632: The Yugoslav Navy in the Battle of the Dalmatian Channels . In practice, there is a distinction between artillery sited to bombard a coastal region and coastal artillery, which has naval-compatible targeting systems and communications that are integrated with the navy rather than the army. Le Havre Le Havre ( / l ə ˈ h ɑː v ( r ə )/ lə HAHV( -rə) ; French: [lə ɑvʁ(ə)] ; Norman : Lé Hâvre [lɛ ˈhɑvʁ(ə)] )
3955-570: The eighth (former cantons II, III, IV, VIII, IX). Several politicians have spent part of their lives in the city: Jules Lecesne (1818–1878), Jules Siegfried (1837–1922), and Félix Faure (1841–1899) were elected as municipal councillors and MPs. A pool, a shopping centre and a street have been named after René Coty from Le Havre, who served as President of the French Republic from 1954 to 1959. Christine Lagarde (born 1956) attended high schools in Le Havre before becoming Minister of
4068-475: The "Southwest Line" – to link Le Havre to the left bank of the Seine downstream from Rouen, near the estuary of the river, were studied in the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century but none have been realized. By public transport it is necessary to go to Rouen by train or bus (using No. 20 Green Bus ). There is a Gray Coach to Étretat and Fécamp and there is VTNI for destinations in
4181-469: The 18th or beginning of the 19th centuries but is still preserved in the phrase havre de paix meaning "safe haven". It is generally considered a loan from Middle Dutch from the 12th century. A Germanic origin can explain the "aspiration" of the initial h . Havre de Grace, Maryland , in the United States retains the "de Grace" from colonial times. New research however focuses on the fact that
4294-489: The 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries. The shops are concentrated along several major roads in the Rond-Point neighbourhood. During the 1990s and 2000s, these neighborhoods have seen major redevelopments, particularly in the context of an OPAH: improvement of habitat by rehabilitation or reconstruction, creation of public facilities, and revitalization of business. At the end of the 20th century and beginning of
4407-405: The 19th century China also built hundreds of coastal fortresses in an attempt to counter Western naval threats. Coastal artillery fortifications generally followed the development of land fortifications; sometimes separate land defence forts were built to protect coastal forts. Through the middle 19th century, coastal forts could be bastion forts , star forts , polygonal forts , or sea forts ,
4520-482: The 19th century, it became an industrial center. At the end of World War I Le Havre played a major role as the transit port used to wind up affairs after the war. The city was devastated during the Battle of Normandy when 5,000 people were killed and 12,000 homes were totally destroyed before its capture in Operation Astonia . The center was rebuilt in a modernist style by Auguste Perret . Le Havre
4633-520: The 21st century, the area around the railway station has undergone a major transformation. As the station is the gateway to the city with the main avenues intersecting here. New buildings have sprung up ( University of Le Havre , the conservatory, headquarters of the SPB (Provident Society Bank), and of CMA CGM , Novotel , Matmut, new CCI) some of which were designed by renowned architects. The bus station, certified NF since 2005, has been refurbished. North of
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4746-541: The Anglo-Canadian operation to capture Calais, on 26 September 1944 (the last day of shelling) fifty shells were fired, killing five people, the last of whom was 63-year-old Patience Ransley, who was killed by a shell from the Lindemann Battery while sheltering in the 900 ft (270 m) long "Barwick's Cave" reinforced cliff tunnel. Accurate bombardment from the British heavy guns at Dover disabled
4859-687: The Army (as in English-speaking countries ). In English-speaking countries, certain coastal artillery positions were sometimes referred to as 'Land Batteries', distinguishing this form of artillery battery from for example floating batteries . In the United Kingdom, in the later 19th and earlier 20th Centuries, the land batteries of the coastal artillery were the responsibility of the Royal Garrison Artillery . In
4972-547: The Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and nicknamed "the Volcano" because of the shape of the building. From 2012, this place was refurbished both inside and outside with fairly significant changes approved by the architect including greater openness to the outside of the plaza. The Notre Dame and Perrey neighbourhoods are mainly residential. Les Halles is one of the commercial hubs of the city. The Saint Francis neighborhood
5085-586: The Canadians at Juno beach had fire support many times greater than they had had for the Dieppe Raid in 1942. The old battleships HMS Ramillies and Warspite with the monitor HMS Roberts were used to suppress shore batteries east of the Orne ; cruisers targeted shore batteries at Ver-sur-Mer and Moulineaux ; while eleven destroyers provided local fire support. The (equally old) battleship Texas
5198-554: The Castilian naval fleet. The use of coastal artillery expanded during the Age of Discoveries , in the 16th century; when a colonial power took over an overseas territory, one of their first tasks was to build a coastal fortress, both to deter rival naval powers and to subjugate the natives. The Martello tower is an excellent example of a widely used coastal fort that mounted defensive artillery, in this case, muzzle-loading cannon. During
5311-509: The Dover area. British coastal convoys had to pass through the bottleneck of the Dover strait to transport supplies, particularly coal; Britain's road and rail network was not then able to cope with the volume of traffic that had to be handled. Although the German guns regularly fired on these slow moving convoys from 1940 to 1944, with an interlude in 1943, they only sank two ships and damaged several others. Two seamen were killed and others were injured by shell splinters from near misses. However,
5424-662: The Economy and Director-General of the International Monetary Fund in 2011. Since 23 October 2010 the mayor has been Édouard Philippe ( UMP ). He also holds the presidency of the CODAH and has held a seat in the National Assembly for the 7th district of Seine-Maritime since 2012. He succeeded Antoine Rufenacht (UMP), who was mayor of Le Havre for fifteen years before resigning, as the head of
5537-556: The English Channel, codenamed Unternehmen Zerberus (Operation Cerberus). Due to poor visibility and a number of communication failures by British forces, the first response to the German squadron was by the 9.2-inch guns of the South Foreland Battery, which were the only guns which could be directed by radar but the 10-cm S band set had only recently been installed and had never been used in conjunction with
5650-586: The Future label in 2009–2011, sustainable Earth label in 2009). Since 1998, Le Havre's beach has received the Blue Flag yearly thanks to its range of facilities, which extend over 30,000 m . Le Havre has kept extensive green areas (750 hectares or 41 m per inhabitant ), the two largest areas are the Montgeon Forest and Rouelles Park which are both located in the upper town. The gardens of
5763-520: The German battery. Allied efforts to take the port of Toulon in August 1944 ran into "Big Willie", a battery consisting of two prewar French turrets, equipped with the guns taken from the French battleship Provence , each mounting a pair of 340 mm naval guns . The range and power of these guns was such that the Allies dedicated a battleship or heavy cruiser to shelling the fort every day, with
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#17327795119495876-585: The German guns in the Pas-de-Calais . Both conducted extreme range counter-battery operations against the German's coastal guns but they were too inaccurate and slow to fire on enemy shipping. Due to these guns' lack of success in targeting shipping, Churchill ordered three new heavy gun batteries to be built in Dover and manned by the Royal Artillery : The guns were later joined by Lydden Spout Battery , consisting of three more BL 6-inch Mk VII guns. Also, three BL 13.5-inch (343 mm) Mk V naval guns from
5989-520: The ISEL (Higher Institute of logistics studies) and the future ENSM (Ecole Nationale Supérieure Maritime). The new medical axis around the new Clinic des Ormeaux was built in the neighbourhoods where many homes are planned with the aim of promoting social mix. The City of the Sea and of Sustainable Development (Odyssey 21) will be organized around a metal tower one hundred metres high designed by Jean Nouvel :
6102-498: The Industrial Zone and Port of Le Havre, thus adding to the cross-estuary service of VTNI. Since 1890 the funicular has provided a link between the upper town and the lower town in four minutes with a cable car. Le Havre had a tramway system from 1894 until it closed in 1957. More recently a new tramway system, with 23 stations and 13 km (8 mi) of route, was built, and opened on 12 December 2012. The first part of
6215-498: The Japanese had for the coastal artillery at Singapore. However, the lack of HE shells rendered Singapore vulnerable to a land based attack from Malaya via the Johore straits. In December 1941, during the Battle of Wake Island , US Marine defense battalions fired at the Japanese invasion fleet with six 5-inch (127 mm) guns , sinking the Japanese destroyer Hayate by scoring direct hits on her magazines, and scoring eleven hits on
6328-654: The National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of Cities and Villages in Bloom. The name of the town was attested in 1489, even before it was founded by François I in the form le Hable de Grace then Ville de Grace in 1516, two years before its official founding. The learned and transient name of Franciscopolis in tribute to the same king, is encountered in some documents then that of Havre Marat , referring to Jean-Paul Marat during
6441-723: The Priory of Graville and the hanging gardens offer views of the lower city. In the city centre, Saint-Roch Square and the City Hall Gardens provide the people with urban recreation areas. Various ecosystems are represented in the Beach Gardens and the Hauser Park (caves). Finally, the Plateau of Dollemard was classified as a "Sensitive Natural Area" of the department in 2001 to protect its landscape and ecosystems on
6554-409: The Seine valley and Rouen who provide inter-urban services on behalf of the Department of Seine-Maritime . Finally, the company AirPlus provides a shuttle service to the railway stations and airports of Paris. For air transport, there is Le Havre Octeville Airport which is located 5 km (3 mi) north of Le Havre at the town of Octeville-sur-Mer and managed by CODAH . The main destination
6667-598: The Todt Battery can be visited at the Musée du Mur de l'Atlantique , the Atlantic Wall Museum, at Audinghen. One of the Krupp K5 guns is also there. Since 1954, a section of painted armour plating taken as a war trophy from a turret of the Lindemann Battery has been on display on the Dover seafront. Many of the British batteries remained until the decision was taken to retire all the coastal artillery in 1956. The 15-inch guns at Wanstone Farm were not removed until 1959. The sites have either been demolished, buried or left to decay. At Wanstone Farm Battery, ancillary buildings such as
6780-414: The United States, coastal artillery was established in 1794 as a branch of the Army and a series of construction programs of coastal defenses began: the "First System" in 1794, the "Second System" in 1804, and the "Third System" or "Permanent System" in 1816. Masonry forts were determined to be obsolete following the American Civil War, and a postwar program of earthwork defenses was poorly funded. In 1885
6893-451: The batteries continued firing until September 1944 when they were overrun during the clearing of the Channel Coast . By then more than a thousand rounds had been fired by the German coastal batteries against England and shipping. The only two vessels to be sunk by German fire were: Empire Lough was one of 21 coastal vessels in the convoy ETC-17, escorted by the frigate HMS Dakins and corvette HMS Sunflower . On 24 June 1944,
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#17327795119497006-438: The batteries were required to be capable of withstanding the heaviest bombardments. The first German guns began to be installed around the end of July 1940. The German batteries in order of construction were: By early August, Siegfried Battery and Grosser Kurfürst Battery were fully operational as were all of the Army’s railway guns . The first shells landed in the Dover area during the second week of August 1940. Seven of
7119-418: The battleship Nevada eventually silencing the guns on August 23, 1944. After World War II the advent of jet aircraft and guided missiles reduced the role of coastal artillery in defending a country against air and sea attacks while also rendering fixed artillery emplacements vulnerable to enemy strikes. The Scandinavian countries, with their long coastlines and relatively weak navies, continued in
7232-417: The bus network in 2008 helped to ensure a better service for all the towns in the metropolitan area. The CTPO operates a bus network consisting of 19 regular urban routes and six evening routes called the "Midnight Bus". The Le Havre urban area is served by 165 vehicles and 41 regular bus routes with an average of 100,000 passengers per day. From January 2011 there has been a regular shuttle service specific to
7345-512: The city and the Russian ships were trapped in the harbor due to mines, making this one of the few cases of coastal guns being employed in an offensive action. On December 5, 1904, the battleship Poltava was destroyed, followed by the battleship Retvizan on December 7, 1904, the battleships Pobeda and Peresvet and the cruisers Pallada and Bayan on December 9, 1904. The battleship Sevastopol , although hit 5 times by 11-inch (280 mm) shells, managed to move out of range of
7458-536: The city is inextricably linked to its harbour. In the 18th century, as trade from the West Indies was added to that of France and Europe, Le Havre began to grow. On 19 November 1793, the city changed its name to Hâvre de Marat and later Hâvre-Marat in honor of the recently deceased Jean-Paul Marat , who was seen as a martyr of the French Revolution . By early 1795, however, Marat's memory had become somewhat tarnished, and on 13 January 1795, Hâvre-Marat changed its name once more to simply Le Havre, its modern name. During
7571-406: The city of Le Havre on 15 July 2005 as a World Heritage Site . This area of 133 hectares is one of the few inscribed contemporary sites in Europe. The architecture of the area is characterized by the use of precast concrete using a system of a modular frame of 6.24 metres and straight lines. Another notable architectural work of the central city is that of the House of Culture built in 1982 by
7684-541: The civilian crews of the merchant ships found the shelling more unnerving than the attacks by aircraft or E-boats that they were also subjected to and there were instances of crews refusing to sail from their forming-up point at Southend-on-Sea because of the German guns. On 11 February 1942, the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau , the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and more than twenty smaller escort vessels sailed from Brest in Brittany to their home port of Wilhelmshaven by an audacious dash through
7797-418: The cliff. The streets are lined with 13,000 trees of 150 different varieties. Largely destroyed by the Allies during the Second World War , the city was rebuilt according to the plans of the architect Auguste Perret between 1945 and 1964. Only the City Hall and the Church of Saint Joseph (107 m-high) were personally designed by Auguste Perret. In commending the reconstruction work UNESCO listed
7910-399: The coastal towns and military installations. The German fortifications would be incorporated into the Atlantic Wall which was built between 1942 and 1944. After the Fall of France in June 1940, Adolf Hitler personally discussed the possibility of invasion with Großadmiral (Grand Admiral) Erich Raeder , the Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) on 21 May 1940. Almost
8023-473: The configuration. Two services to Portsmouth are provided daily from the Terminal de la Citadelle until ceasing operations in 2014, the route has since been taken over by Brittany Ferries . The link to Ireland was moved to the port of Cherbourg . Crossing times to Portsmouth vary from five hours and thirty minutes to eight hours. Popular alternative routes going to areas close to Le Havre include Newhaven to Dieppe , and Poole to Cherbourg . The city and
8136-542: The convoy left Southend en route to the Seine Bay when the ships were engaged by German long-range coastal artillery guns off Dover. Empire Lough was set on fire and declared a total loss after she was beached near Folkestone. The master Robert Robinson and one crew member were lost. The freighter Gurden Gates (1,791 grt, built 1943) was damaged in the same action. Having withdrawn in the Dunkirk evacuation and winning
8249-514: The cruiser Takasago to a mine outside the harbor. During the Battle of Drøbak Sound in April 1940, the German navy lost the new heavy cruiser Blücher , one of their most modern ships, to a combination of fire from various coastal artillery emplacements, including two obsolete German-made Krupp 280 mm (11 in) guns and equally obsolete Whitehead torpedoes . The Blücher had entered
8362-443: The demolition and rebuilding of more than 1,700 homes. For a long time Le Havre has exploited the strengths of its coastal location but also suffered from its relative isolation. This is why the accessibility of the city has been improved with the harbour highway A131 (E05) which links Le Havre to the A13 autoroute over Tancarville Bridge . The city is one hour from Rouen and one and a half-hour from Île-de-France . More recently
8475-596: The development and installation of modern coastal artillery systems, usually hidden in well-camouflaged armored turrets (for example Swedish 12 cm automatic turret gun ). In these countries the coastal artillery was part of the naval forces and used naval targeting systems. Both mobile and stationary (e.g. 100 56 TK ) systems were used. In countries where coastal artillery has not been disbanded, these forces have acquired amphibious or anti-ship missile capabilities. In constricted waters, mobile coastal artillery armed with surface-to-surface missiles still can be used to deny
8588-406: The east (St. Cecilia, Aplemont). The Jenner tunnel passes under the "coast" and connects the upper town to the lower town. It is also on the coast that there are two fortifications of the city, Forts Sainte-Adresse and Tourneville, and the main cemetery (Sainte-Marie cemetery). With the demise of the military functions of the city, the forts are gradually being converted: Fort Sainte-Adresse houses
8701-647: The field artillery and coast artillery into separate branches, creating a separate Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) The CAC was disbanded as a separate branch in 1950. In the first decade of the 20th century, the United States Marine Corps established the Advanced Base Force . The force was used for setting up and defending advanced overseas bases, and its close ties to the Navy allowed it to man coast artillery around these bases. During
8814-529: The fires reached her magazines and doomed her. As a result, the remainder of the invasion fleet reversed, the Norwegian royal family, parliament and cabinet escaped, and the Norwegian gold reserves were safely removed from the city before it fell. Singapore was defended by its famous large-caliber coastal guns, which included one battery of three 15-inch (381 mm) guns and one with two 15-inch (381 mm) guns. Prime Minister Winston Churchill nicknamed
8927-500: The first three types often with detached gun batteries called "water batteries". Coastal defence weapons throughout history were heavy naval guns or weapons based on them, often supplemented by lighter weapons. In the late 19th century separate batteries of coastal artillery replaced forts in some countries; in some areas, these became widely separated geographically through the mid-20th century as weapon ranges increased. The amount of landward defence provided began to vary by country from
9040-572: The garrison as "The Gibraltar of the East" and the "Lion of the Sea". This perhaps compelled the Japanese to launch their invasion of Singapore from the north, via Malaya , in December 1941. It is a commonly repeated misconception that Singapore's large-calibre coastal guns were ineffective against the Japanese because they were designed to face south to defend the harbour against naval attack and could not be turned round to face north. In fact, most of
9153-595: The guns by railway lines. Both batteries were camouflaged and protected from aerial attack by anti-aircraft emplacements behind and below St. Margaret's. Both guns were operated from separate firing-control rooms and were manned by 25-man troop of the Royal Marines Siege Regiment . Although Winnie fired Britain's first shell onto continental Europe in August 1940 boosting morale, the Mk VII naval guns were slow to reload and ineffectual compared to
9266-462: The guns could be turned, and were indeed fired at the invaders. However, the guns were supplied mostly with armour-piercing (AP) shells and few high explosive (HE) shells. AP shells were designed to penetrate the hulls of heavily armoured warships and were mostly ineffective against infantry targets. Military analysts later estimated that if the guns had been well supplied with HE shells the Japanese attackers would have suffered heavy casualties, but
9379-412: The guns. As the visibility was only 5 nmi (5.8 mi; 9.3 km), it was hoped that the radar would be able to register the splashes as the shells landed so that the guns would be able to correct their aim but nothing was detected. After firing three two-gun salvoes without being able to detect the "fall of shot" – the shells were actually landing almost a mile astern of the main German ships – it
9492-735: The guns. Stung by the fact that the Russian Pacific Fleet had been sunk by the army and not by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and with a direct order from Tokyo that the Sevastopol was not to be allowed to escape, Admiral Togo sent in wave after wave of destroyers in six separate attacks on the sole remaining Russian battleship. After 3 weeks, the Sevastopol was still afloat, having survived 124 torpedoes fired at her while sinking two Japanese destroyers and damaging six other vessels. The Japanese had meanwhile lost
9605-550: The inability to use Manila as a port), the forts allowed interception of radio traffic later decisive at Midway. The Japanese defended the island of Betio in the Tarawa atoll with numerous 203 mm (8-inch) coastal guns. In 1943, these were knocked out early in the battle with a combined USN naval and aerial bombardment. Nazi Germany fortified its conquered territories with the Atlantic Wall . Organization Todt built
9718-409: The invasion would not have been prevented by this means alone. The guns of Singapore achieved their purpose in deterring a Japanese naval attack as the possibility of an expensive capital ship being sunk made it inadvisable for the Japanese to attack Singapore via the sea. The very fact that the Japanese chose to advance down from Thailand through Malaya to take Singapore was a testament for the respect
9831-535: The late 19th century; by 1900 new US forts almost totally neglected these defences. Booms were also usually part of a protected harbor's defences. In the middle 19th century underwater minefields and later controlled mines were often used, or stored in peacetime to be available in wartime. With the rise of the submarine threat at the beginning of the 20th century, anti-submarine nets were used extensively, usually added to boom defences, with major warships often being equipped with them (to allow rapid deployment once
9944-404: The light cruiser Yubari , forcing her to withdraw, and temporarily repulsing Japanese efforts to take the island. The Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays denied Manila harbor to the invading Japanese until Corregidor fell to amphibious assault on 6 May 1942, nearly a month after the fall of Bataan . Beyond tying up besieging Japanese forces (who suffered severe supply shortages due to
10057-586: The line connects the beach to the station climbing to the upper town through a new tunnel near the Jenner tunnel then it splits into two: one link going to Mont-Gaillard, the other to Caucriauville. Finally, since 2001 Le Havre agglomeration has operated the LER, a TER line connecting the Le Havre station to Rolleville passing through five other SNCF railway stations of the urban area. From 2005, development work for Segregated cycle facilities have increased including
10170-501: The metropolitan area has a dense transport network. This solves the problem of a break between the lower town and the upper town and the two parts of the city are connected by long boulevards, winding roads, many stairs, a funicular , and finally the Jenner tunnel. The CODAH transport network is called Lia and is operated by the Ocean Port Transport company (CTPO), a subsidiary of Veolia Transport . The overhaul of
10283-470: The municipality. The city of Le Havre has long been the strongest bastion of the Communist Party of France , who directed it from 1956 to 1995. Overall, the inhabitants of Le Havre in the 7th electoral district (city centre and western neighbourhoods) tend to vote for the right while those of the 8th electoral district (eastern neighbourhoods) tend to choose the candidate of the left. For example, in
10396-516: The narrow waters of the Oslofjord , carrying 1,000 soldiers and leading a German invasion fleet. The first salvo from the Norwegian defenders, fired from Oscarsborg Fortress about 950 meters distance, disabled the center propeller turbine and set her afire. Fire from the smaller guns (57 mm to 150 mm) swept her decks and disabled her steering, and she received two torpedo hits before
10509-621: The plotting room and the guard house are visible, although overgrown and the sergeants' mess has reverted to its original use as a farm house. Coastal artillery From the Middle Ages until World War II , coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of cannons were highly important to military affairs and generally represented the areas of highest technology and capital cost among materiel . The advent of 20th-century technologies, especially military aviation , naval aviation , jet aircraft , and guided missiles , reduced
10622-509: The port took off first with the slave trade then other international trade. After the 1944 bombings the firm of Auguste Perret began to rebuild the city in concrete. The oil, chemical, and automotive industries were dynamic during the Trente Glorieuses (postwar boom) but the 1970s marked the end of the golden age of ocean liners and the beginning of the economic crisis: the population declined, unemployment increased and remains at
10735-583: The presidential election of 2007, the 7th electoral district voted for Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP) by 55.05% against 44.95% for Ségolène Royal (PS) while in the 8th electoral district 55.02% voted for the Socialist candidate. However, the results of the 2012 presidential elections gave the PS wins in both districts with a smaller margin in the 7th (Hollande: 51.71% / Sarkozy: 48.29%) than in the 8th (Hollande 64.21% / Sarkozy: 35.79%). The number of inhabitants in Le Havre
10848-456: The primacy of cannons, battleships, and coastal artillery. It was long held as a rule of thumb that one shore-based gun equaled three naval guns of the same caliber, due to the steadiness of the coastal gun which allowed for significantly higher accuracy than their sea-mounted counterparts. Land-based guns also benefited in most cases from the additional protection of walls or earth mounds. The range of gunpowder -based coastal artillery also has
10961-493: The project was suspended in 2007 but the work should finally begin in 2013. The municipality has to attract some 300,000 visitors per year. The upper town is composed of three parts: the "coast", the suburban districts of the plateau, and large peripheral housing estates. The neighbourhoods on the "coast" (the Dead Cliff) are residential – more prosperous in the western part (Les Ormeaux, Rue Felix Faure) and more modest to
11074-607: The railway guns, six 28 cm (11 in) K5 guns and a single 21 cm (8.3 in) K12 gun with a range of 115 km (71 mi), could only be used against land targets. The remainder, thirteen 28 cm (11 in) guns and five 24 cm (9.4 in) guns, plus additional motorised batteries comprising twelve 24 cm (9.4 in) guns and ten 21 cm (8.3 in) guns, could be fired at shipping but were of limited effectiveness due to their slow traverse speed, long loading time and ammunition types. Land-based guns have always been feared by navies because they are on
11187-529: The region is the high variability of the temperature, even during the day. The prevailing winds are from the southwest sector for strong winds and north-north-east for breezes, snowstorms occur in winter, especially in January and February. The absolute speed record for wind at Le Havre – Cap de la Heve was recorded on 16 October 1987 at 180 kilometres per hour (112 miles per hour). The main natural hazards are floods, storms, and storm surges . The lower town
11300-591: The run-in to the beach. Similar arrangements existed at other beaches. On June 25, 1944, the American battleship Texas engaged German shore batteries on the Cotentin Peninsula around Cherbourg. Battery Hamburg straddled the ship with a salvo of 240 mm shells, eventually hitting Texas twice; one shell damaging the conning tower and navigation bridge, with the other penetrating below decks but failing to explode. Return fire from Texas knocked out
11413-583: The second largest subprefecture in France after Reims . It is the capital of the Arrondissement of Le Havre which includes 168 communes. It is also the largest member of the Le Havre Seine Métropole . Since 2015, the city of Le Havre is divided over six Cantons , some of which also cover neighbouring communes. For the parliamentary elections, Le Havre spans two constituencies: the seventh (former cantons I, V, VI, and VII) and
11526-549: The ship was anchored or moored) through early World War I. In World War I railway artillery emerged and soon became part of coastal artillery in some countries; with railway artillery in coast defence some type of revolving mount had to be provided to allow tracking of fast-moving targets. Coastal artillery could be part of the Navy (as in Scandinavian countries, war-time Germany , and the Soviet Union ), or part of
11639-631: The station, another construction project in place of the dilapidated island of Turgot-Magellan will be opened in 2013, including 12,500 m (135,000 sq ft) of office space and an eight-storey hotel, complete with shops on the ground-floor. The southern districts of Le Havre are mainly used for industrial and port activities. There are buildings in brick from the 19th century, large developments (Chicago, Les Neiges), worker estates, SMEs, warehouses, dock and port facilities, and transport infrastructure. The southern districts have for some years experienced profound change due to European funding. It
11752-470: The story book character Winnie the Pooh ) at St Margaret's at Cliffe . Both guns were spares taken from the stock of guns of the battleship HMS King George V . One gun used a mounting from HMS Furious , while the other had a mounting from a test range; neither was turret-mounted. Their separate and well-camouflaged cordite and shell magazines were buried under deep layers of earth and connected to
11865-413: The temperature drops below 0 °C (32 °F) on 24.9 days per year and it rises above 25 °C (77 °F) on 11.3 days per year. The average annual sunshine duration is 1,785.8 hours per year. Precipitation is distributed throughout the year, with a maximum in autumn and winter. The months of June and July are marked by some thunderstorms on average 2 days per month. One of the characteristics of
11978-459: The term was attested very early (12th century) and in Norman texts in the forms Hable , hafne , havene , havne , and haule makes a Dutch origin unlikely. By contrast, a Scandinavian etymology is relevant given the old Scandinavian höfn (genitive hafnar ) or hafn meaning "natural harbour" or "haven" and the phonetic evolution of the term étrave which is assuredly of Scandinavian origin
12091-531: The territory of the Agglomeration community of Le Havre (CODAH) which includes 17 communes and 250,000 people. It occupies the south-western tip of the natural region of Pays de Caux where it is the largest city. Le Havre is sandwiched between the coast of the Channel from south-west to north-west and the estuary of the Seine to the south. Le Havre belongs to the Paris Basin which was formed in
12204-471: The transportation and landing of troops in case of a possible crossing from the coastal strip Calais–Cape Gris Nez–Boulogne. On 16 July Hitler issued Führer Directive 16 to have guns in place to support Operation Sea Lion: Strong forces of coastal artillery must command and protect the forward coastal area. Commencing on 22 July 1940, Organisation Todt began work on artillery positions primarily at Pas-de-Calais for every heavy artillery piece available;
12317-585: The use of sea lanes. The Type 88 surface-to-ship missile is an example of modern mobile coastal artillery. Poland also retains a coastal missile division armed with the Naval Strike Missile . During the Croatian War of Independence in 1991, coastal artillery operated by Croatian forces played an important role in defending Croatian Adriatic coast from Yugoslav naval and air strikes, especially around Zadar, Šibenik and Split, defeating
12430-424: Was also rebuilt beginning in 1950 but in a radically different architectural style: the buildings are brick and have pitched slate roofs. This is the restaurant district and the fish market. To the east and north of the rebuilt central city are a stretch of old neighbourhoods (Danton, Saint-Vincent, Graville, Massillon, etc.) which were spared the bombings of World War II. The buildings, usually in brick, dated to
12543-404: Was decided to fire full salvoes using only the ranging information from the radar. After six minutes of rapid fire, the last shots were fired at a range of 30,000 yd (27,000 m). None of the 33 shells fired came close to the German ships. A minute before the last shots were fired, South Foreland came under counter-battery fire from across the Channel but little damage was sustained. During
12656-585: Was provided by both spotter aircraft and by DeTeGerät radar sets installed at Blanc-Nez and Cap d’Alprech. These units were capable of detecting targets out to a range of 40 km (25 mi), including small British patrol craft near the English coast. Two additional radar sites were added by mid-September: a DeTeGerät at Cap de la Hague and a FernDeTeGerät long-range radar at Cap d’Antifer near Le Havre . The longest-ranged guns were 21 cm (8.3 in) Kanone 12 in Eisenbahnlafette , manned by
12769-614: Was used to suppress the battery at Pointe du Hoc , but the guns there had been moved to an inland position, unbeknownst to the Allies. In addition, there were modified landing craft : eight "Landing Craft Gun", each with two 4.7-inch guns; four "Landing Craft Support" with automatic cannon; eight Landing Craft Tank (Rocket) , each with a single salvo of 1,100 5-inch rockets; eight Landing Craft Assault (Hedgerow), each with twenty-four bombs intended to detonate beach mines prematurely. Twenty-four Landing Craft Tank carried Priest self-propelled 105mm howitzers which also fired while they were on
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