Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History WW2 Pipe Line Under The Ocean

Although I had heard of the "Pluto Tanks" by the sewage works on New Ferry/Bromborough border, I never realised their significance until I saw this ....

‘Pluto’ was the acronym used for the Pipe Line Under The Ocean. This was the attempt made by Britain in the Second World War to lay a fuel pipe-line across the Channel to France, beginning from Bromborough in Merseyside.

In April 1942, the Chief of Combined Operations Lord Louis Mounbatten began investigating the possibility of laying a fuel pipe-line between Britain and France, in preparation for the planned Allied invasion of France.
An aerial view of Bromborough, Wirral and part of the River Mersey.

Researchers found that a three-inch steel pipe could be welded to any required length and still be flexible enough to be wound around a drum not less than thirty feet in diameter, and so carry oil that way. The Pluto pipe-line would therefore be laid using huge floating drums with steel pipe wrapped round them, which could then be towed across the Channel to France.

The Merseyside connection
The oil tanker buoys that fed oil into Pluto were moored off the coast at Bromborough on the Wirral. Oil was pumped from Bromborough up the river Mersey to Stanlow. At Stanlow the oil joined the already existing national pipeline, and then travelled down the country and across the Channel. Towards the end of the War, Pluto was able to carry one million gallons of oil per day, using sixteen separate pipe-lines between Britain and France.

Never heard of that. Good find !

wow interesting

good find bud Never heard about this.

Thought this sounded a bit far fetched, but had a quick google and found this
PLUTO

Amazing the ideas that are put forward in times of need

That`s a fantastic find.I was not aware of it myself.

Great find that.

Funny that! Where it says Siemens took up the challenge. I immediately though whoa, Seimens is a German company but this was obviously something different?

I knew about this years ago because my father used to tell me all the war stories from the local front. I thought he was joking about disguising one of the pumping stations as an ice cream stall though. He wasn't.

Another "tall" story he used to mention was something I don't believe. If anyone wants to defend him be my guest but I just don't think it happened.

According to him, one of our aircraft either Spitfire or Hurricane got into difficulties over Birkenhead/Wallasey or it was possibly involved in a battle (?) According to father, this aircraft ditched into the docks and was then hauled out by a dock crane and the pilot never even got his feet wet.

Now I reckon not only would the pilot not just sit there in case it sunk but you can't just grab an aircraft and pick it up. Perhaps something like this did happen but has been exaggerated over the years? Anyone?

Quite a history of Siemens in the UK

http://w4.siemens.de/archiv/en/laender/europa/grossbritannien.html

Here is a video of the pipe and pipe laying for pluto - typical belt and braces job that we (brits) used to be good at - these days they would evacuate everthing within 50 miles for health and safety. Unfortunately the slavic voice-over drowns out the english. Also it has the "ice cream stall" to amuse morseman

[youtube]v9-lt_HGtX4[/youtube]

And here is another bit of it disguised as a church

www.flickr.com/photos

Some years ago we were in a hotel with Clarissa Dixon-Wright and Sir Johnny Scott, having breakfast.

Sir Johnny was reading a newspaper which had an item in it about PLUTO, and we chatted about it for a while, although Clarissa didn't seem to take much interest. At the end of the conversations Sir Johnny said,

"What I don't understand is how they managed to disguise it from the Germans."

Clarissa - quick as a shot replied,

"Really quite simple dear - they painted jokes all over it!"

wow thats brilliant

This isn't on the Wirral, but follows on from the rest of this post, it was part of the GPSS pipeline system which was what followed Pluto (or was part of it). This was on the route over the Pennines (actually through Derbyshire) from Stanlow to Paull (Hull). This is at Poynton, the route also goes through Whaley Bridge (it burst there !). The Links below are interesting.

Discovered whilst looking around at Poynton's coal mining heritage. We only know (local quote), that "its a pumping station". I guessed it was part of GPSS, but that is actually further north, from posts where it goes beneath the canal, also confirmed by Alan Turnbull, from Secret Places. We were actually correct, it was a pumping station on the GPSS pipeline system, but the pipeline was re-routed after the war.

The GPSS system connected the Shell refinery at Stanlow, via the storage farm at Backford, via Rawcliff Bridge to the refinery at Paull (HUll) to supply airfields in the east, and down to the south coast to supply Pluto at D-Day to Europe.

GPSS=(and other major pipelines) - http://www.linewatch.co.uk/pipeline_network.php

GPSS - Secret Places - http://www.secret-bases.co.uk/secret3.htm

The site has been partially re-used as the council tip (recycling centre).

There are 2 main buildings, one offices, the other "plant", a small circular brick wall (sewerage bed ?), and some blast walled undergound steps, blocked off.

It is aboout here: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&a...4128&t=h&z=19"]Google Earth, it just appears on the edge of the Google Earth V6 1945 aerial photos.

GE V6, 1945



1970





Office ?



Plant ?





Gated room