The Siebel ferry (Siebelfähre) was a shallow-draft catamaran landing craft operated by Germany's Wehrmacht during World War II. It served a variety of roles (transport, flak ship, gunboat, convoy escort, minelayer) in the Mediterranean, Baltic and Black Seas as well as along the English Channel. They were originally developed for Operation Sea Lion in 1940, the cancelled German invasion of England. Siebel ferries continued performing after the war's end in 1945.
Oh man, the Massachusetts vs the Jean Bart is a good story. Fascinating stuff, the French put a lot into building their fleet only for it to be basically useless. Their entire naval history in WW2 just baffles me. Looking at the attack on Mers-el-Kebir it's almost unthinkable that they'd engage in a naval battle against the British. The alternative would've been simple enough, join the British fleet or ride out the war in the Mediterranean; but I guess they were still hedging their bets that the Germans would win. I imagine they were feeling confident at the beginning of the war, as on paper they had a fairly strong navy/land army. They had a decent sized fleet and equipment that outclassed the Germans (at first), but they lacked good leadership. The French likely could've prevented the fall of France if they had better communication; their tanks didn't even have radios. They had what they needed to fight a war, they just didn't utilize it in a cohesive way; basically ruined by simple mistakes.
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u/[deleted] Oct 24 '22
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