Mulberry 21: Rapidly Deployable and Recoverable Harbor
Abstract
After landing on the beaches of Normandy during World War II, the Allies needed means to move necessary equipment over the secured beachhead and to the front lines. The answer was the Mulberry Harbor. A modern concept design of the harbor has been undertaken to overcome the limitations of the original design and meet new operating requirements. The Mulberry 21 design will be fast to deploy, easily recovered, and able to survive in higher sea states. The harbor system consists of an elevated causeway and inflatable breakwater. The inflatable breakwater arrives in theater stored flat on a roll and is deployed from the stern of a ship. It is unrolled and anchored as the ship advances. The breakwater is sunk and inflated with seawater using a high volume pump. Once the breakwater has been installed, the causeway is lowered from a ship and towed into place. After being secured, the causeway is jacked up with inflatable bags in sequence until the roadway is safely out of the water. Mulberry 21 provides a fully moored breakwater and elevated causeway that can be installed quickly and allows ship to shore cargo movement to unimproved beach areas.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 10, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA573450
Entities
People
- Casey Hodges
- Matt Young
- Zachary Snyder
Organizations
- Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division