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The British had a petroleum warfare department and one of the Schemes it was involved with was Operation Lucid , a plan to revive fireships and use then against the invasion barges in the Channel ports . Ultimately the only tankers who could be spared were so old and worn out that none made it across the Channel. If it had happened would it have any impact beyond burning a few barge. Would the German have treated HMS Campbelltown with more suspicion.




From Wikipedia

Operation LucidEdit

RFA War Nawab, one of the ships involved in Operation Lucid.
Main article: Operation Lucid
A series of experiments investigated the possibility of burning 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.[38] 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.[38] Neither of these experiments were carried forward to produce workable defences.[38]

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[4][39] and became known as Operation Lucid.[40]

Three old tankers were quickly prepared for the operation under the command of Augustus Agar. Although the operation was started several times each attack was thwarted by bad weather, unreliable ships and finally, by the command ship hitting a mine. The operation was eventually called off.[41]
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