South Foreland
Encyclopedia
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Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
headland on the Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
coast of southeast England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It presents a bold cliff to the sea, and commands views over the Strait of Dover
Strait of Dover
The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel. The shortest distance across the strait is from the South Foreland, 6 kilometres northeast of Dover in the county of Kent, England, to Cap Gris Nez, a cape near to Calais in the French of...
. It is 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
and 15 miles south of North Foreland
North Foreland
North Foreland is a chalk headland on the Kent coast of southeast England.North Foreland forms the eastern end of the Isle of Thanet. It presents a bold cliff to the sea, and commands views over the southern North Sea.-Lighthouse:...
. It is the closest point on the British mainland to the European continent at a distance of only 21 miles (33.8 km).
This proximity gives it military significance and during World War II a coastal battery was sited on the headland along with a radar station. Lying between the busy port of Dover
Port of Dover
The Port of Dover is the cross-channel port situated in Dover, south-east England. It is the nearest English port to France, at just away, and one of Europe's largest passenger ports, with 14 million travellers, 2.1 million lorries, 2.8 million cars and motorcycles and 86,000 coaches passing...
and the deadly Goodwin Sands
Goodwin Sands
The Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long sand bank in the English Channel, lying six miles east off Deal in Kent, England. The Brake Bank lying shorewards is part of the same geological unit. As the shoals lie close to major shipping channels, more than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked...
, the two lighthouses were important for navigation but both have now been retired. Much of the area is now owned by the National Trust and is open to the public; it is traversed by the Saxon Shore Way
Saxon Shore Way
The Saxon Shore Way is a long-distance footpath in England, starting at Gravesend, Kent and traces the coast as it was in Roman times as far as Hastings, East Sussex, in total.-History:...
.
Lighthouses
There are two lighthouses on South Foreland: one which went out of service in 1910 and the upper light, now a National TrustNational Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
property, which went out of service in 1988).
Geography and geology
South Foreland marks the south-western limit of St Margaret's Bay (named after the village of St Margaret-at-CliffeSt Margaret-at-Cliffe
St Margaret-at-Cliffe is a three part village situated just off the coast road between Deal and Dover in Kent, England. The heart of the village is about two miles from the sea with the residential area of Nelson Park further inland and St Margaret's Bay situated along and below the cliffs north...
). It is the geological
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
counterpart of Cap Blanc Nez
Cap Blanc Nez
Cap Blanc Nez is a cape on the Côte d'Opale, in the Pas-de-Calais département, in northern France. The cliffs of chalk are very similar to the white cliffs of Dover at the other side of the Channel in England...
, at the northern extremity of the Boulonnais
Boulonnais (land area)
The Boulonnais is a coastal area of northern France, around Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer. It has a curved belt of chalk downs which run into the sea at both ends, and geologically is the east end of the Weald-Artois Anticline.- Administration :...
in the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
département of Pas-de-Calais. The two are the landward ends of the Strait of Dover
Strait of Dover
The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel. The shortest distance across the strait is from the South Foreland, 6 kilometres northeast of Dover in the county of Kent, England, to Cap Gris Nez, a cape near to Calais in the French of...
land bridge
Land bridge
A land bridge, in biogeography, is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonise new lands...
and their chalk geological stratum dictates the route of the Channel Tunnel
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
.
Second World War
During the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
South Foreland carried a Chain Home
Chain Home
Chain Home was the codename for the ring of coastal Early Warning radar stations built by the British before and during the Second World War. The system otherwise known as AMES Type 1 consisted of radar fixed on top of a radio tower mast, called a 'station' to provide long-range detection of...
radar station similar to the still-extant towers at Swingate, east of Dover. There was also a coastal artillery
Coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications....
battery with four Mk X 9.2" guns and a network of bunker
Bunker
A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...
s and ammunition stores, northeast of the lighthouse on the road to St Margarets. The site was cleared after the war, but traces remain albeit heavily overgrown.
Excavations started on 28 December 1940 and the first gun arrived on 25 March 1941, although No. 4 gun was not test fired until 28 November of that year. Their best-known action came a few months later, on 12 February 1942, when the light battleships Gneisenau
German battleship Gneisenau
Gneisenau was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the second vessel of her class, which included one other ship, Scharnhorst. The ship was built at the Deutsche Werke dockyard in Kiel; she was laid down on 6 May 1935...
, Scharnhorst
German battleship Scharnhorst
Scharnhorst was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. The ship was built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down on 15...
and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen
German cruiser Prinz Eugen
Prinz Eugen was an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser, the third member of the class of five vessels. She served with the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The ship was laid down in April 1936 and launched August 1938; Prinz Eugen entered service after the outbreak of war, in August 1940...
attempted the Channel Dash from Brest back to Germany.
The K band
K band
K band designates certain portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, in either the microwave domain or in the infrared domain. The microwave K bands are used primarily for radar and satellite communications while the infrared K band is used for astronomical observations.-NATO K band:The NATO K band...
radar at South Foreland started to track the ships of the Brest Group coming up the Channel towards Cap Gris Nez
Cap Gris Nez
Cap Gris Nez is a cape on the Côte d'Opale in the Pas-de-Calais département in northern France....
. At 12:19, the first salvo was fired; since maximum visibility was five miles, there was no observation
Artillery observer
A military artillery observer or spotter is responsible for directing artillery fire and close air support onto enemy positions. Because artillery is an indirect fire weapon system, the guns are rarely in line-of-sight of their target, often located tens of miles away...
of fall of shot by either sight or radar. The "blips" of the K-set clearly showed the zig-zagging of the ships and full battery salvo firing began without verifying fall-of-shot. 33 rounds were fired at the German ships, which were moving out of range at 30 kn (36.5 mph; 58.8 km/h). Initially it was thought that four hits had been made, but the Germans revealed that all had missed.
By the end of the war the four guns had expended 2,248 shells, most in the months before and after the Normandy landings. Only 28 ships were confirmed sunk between all the coastal batteries around Dover, but the deterrent effect was significant.
