Operation Blackcurrant
Operation Blackcurrant | |
---|---|
National Grid during a power shortage | |
Date | Winter of 1947 |
Executed by | Royal Navy Submarine Service |
Operation Blackcurrant was a Royal Navy peacetime operation carried out in the winter of 1947. During this period a combination of low coal stockpiles and the effects of the cold weather on the transport network led to a shortage of fuel reaching power stations, forcing many to shut down or reduce their outputs. The Royal Navy responded by authorising the Submarine Service to carry out Operation Blackcurrant. The operation involved mooring submarines at harbours and docks and using their onboard diesel generators to provide supplementary power to dockyards and coastal towns. By February conditions had improved and power stations began to receive sufficient supplies of fuel.
Background
The United Kingdom was subjected to
The cold weather caused a higher than normal demand for coal and power as the country tried to keep warm. At the same time it became more difficult for coal to reach the power stations as it was frozen solid in stockpiles.
The operation
Despite Shinwell's measures the fuel supply remained insufficient and
References
- ^ Burroughs 1997, p. 58.
- ^ Middlemas 1990, p. 548.
- ^ a b Marr 2007, p. 34.
- ^ a b c d e "Panorama by Candlelight", Time Magazine, 24 February 1947, archived from the original on 8 February 2011
- ^ a b Simons, Paul (1 October 2008), "Heavy Weather — Winter 1947", The Times , Times 2 Magazine, p. 11
- ^ Eden, Philip (26 January 2007), The big freeze of 1947, WeatherOnline Ltd, retrieved 9 November 2008
- ^ a b Cox, Ron (8 January 2010), "Power of Operation Blackcurrant", The Times, retrieved 13 January 2009
- ^ The Admiralty (1947), Operation Blackcurrant: supply of power by submarine to Devonport Dockyard: technical report, retrieved 13 January 2009
- ^ Leonard, Commander R. F., HMS London Book of Commission, archived from the original on 16 October 2008, retrieved 13 January 2009
- ^ a b British Submarines of World War Two (3 January 2008), Triumph to Truncheon, archived from the original on 2 January 2009, retrieved 13 January 2009
Bibliography
- Burroughs, William James (1997), Does the Weather Really Matter?, Cambridge: ISBN 0-521-56126-4
- ISBN 978-0-330-43983-1
- JSTOR 571001