Definitions

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  • noun Plural form of blockship.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Artificial harbors were to be constructed on an exposed coast by sinking lines of blockships and concrete caissons to form breakwaters, with floating pierheads and pontoon causeways to serve as wharves and docks.

    11. The Liberation of France and Belgium, 1944 2001

  • It is likely that Allied unloading operations could have been shielded from the sea just as effectively merely by sinking the screen of blockships and creating a network of piers, rather than by devoting the labour of 45,000 men to building the Mulberries.3 Some of the same doubts apply to another celebrated innovation, PLUTO—PipeLine Under The Ocean—a device for pumping petrol direct from England to the armies in France.

    Overlord D-Day And The Battle for Normandy Max Hastings 1984

  • It is likely that Allied unloading operations could have been shielded from the sea just as effectively merely by sinking the screen of blockships and creating a network of piers, rather than by devoting the labour of 45,000 men to building the Mulberries.3 Some of the same doubts apply to another celebrated innovation, PLUTO—PipeLine Under The Ocean—a device for pumping petrol direct from England to the armies in France.

    Overlord D-Day And The Battle for Normandy Max Hastings 1984

  • It is likely that Allied unloading operations could have been shielded from the sea just as effectively merely by sinking the screen of blockships and creating a network of piers, rather than by devoting the labour of 45,000 men to building the Mulberries.3 Some of the same doubts apply to another celebrated innovation, PLUTO—PipeLine Under The Ocean—a device for pumping petrol direct from England to the armies in France.

    Overlord D-Day And The Battle for Normandy Max Hastings 1984

  • It is likely that Allied unloading operations could have been shielded from the sea just as effectively merely by sinking the screen of blockships and creating a network of piers, rather than by devoting the labour of 45,000 men to building the Mulberries.3 Some of the same doubts apply to another celebrated innovation, PLUTO—PipeLine Under The Ocean—a device for pumping petrol direct from England to the armies in France.

    Overlord D-Day And The Battle for Normandy Max Hastings 1984

  • By a miracle of inventive engineering skill the Allies constructed two artificial ports, called “Mulberries,” off the Normandy beaches, putting up prefabricated piers and massive artificial breakwaters of scuttled blockships, steel floats anchored to concrete caissons, and vast floating ramps.

    The Story of World War II Donald L. Miller 1945

  • By a miracle of inventive engineering skill the Allies constructed two artificial ports, called “Mulberries,” off the Normandy beaches, putting up prefabricated piers and massive artificial breakwaters of scuttled blockships, steel floats anchored to concrete caissons, and vast floating ramps.

    The Story of World War II Donald L. Miller 1945

  • After the ship had sunk and the bridge and upper deck were under water, the commander did not think even then that his work had ended, and so he settled down to make signals to the other two blockships following in, down this way, and inform them where the entrance to the canal was.

    The Fight at Zeebrugge 1919

  • Motor launches also rescued the crews of the blockships and the men -- all of them wounded -- from the submarine.

    A History of Sea Power William Oliver Stevens 1916

  • For a considerable period thereafter, all the larger German torpedo craft remained cooped up at Bruges, and the Zeebrugge blockships still obstructed the channel at the end of the war.

    A History of Sea Power William Oliver Stevens 1916

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