12 December 1942 Part 5

12 December 1942 Navigation instructions for Channel Islands waters

V. Marine casualties.

It has become apparent that front-line units are unfamiliar with the navigational aids issued for difficult waters; in some cases they do not even know of them.

In one particular casualty, the Tidal Stream Atlas had been used for the waters within the Channel Islands. It is not intended for this purpose. The atlas is meant to give an overview of tidal streams in broad areas of open sea, not in a navigable passage such as that between the Channel Islands.

For areas close to the coast, between shoals and islands, the tidal-stream charts issued by Naval High Command in 1941 must be used in addition to the sailing directions. These charts were compiled using the latest material [continued on the next frame].

These charts were compiled using the latest material and are therefore, as well as by their larger scale, greatly superior to the atlas.

These Tidal Stream Charts have been published for the southern North Sea, the mouths of the Maas and Scheldt, the Strait of Dover, the eastern and western Channel, and the Bay of St Malo: Naval Service Regulations Nos. 2300–2304. For the Atlantic coast, tidal-stream charts are included in the U-boat Handbook for the West Coast of France, Nautical Section. Naval High Command has been asked to produce these as a separate publication.

The French charts Currents on the West Coast of France from Penmarch to the Spanish Frontier (Courants de la Côte Ouest de France), Nos. 11 A–L, and Currents in the Channel and the Entrance to the North Sea from Penmarch to Ostend (Courants de la Manche et de l’Entrée de la mer du Nord), Nos. 5 A–L, also provide good information.

Marschall.

T-1022 Roll 4008; PG 37543 | Frame 0056 page 1; PG 37543 | Frame 0057 page 2. Extract from T1022_R4008_English_Translation.docx.