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meeting the deep water channel. In times of extreme alert the gap between the two was intended to be closed by moored Royal Navy vessels. By its final year the nature of the threat was shifting from submarines to nuclear-armed bombers against which the boom would have been scant defence. With the coming of reliable nuclear-armed rockets, jet-powered bombers and the hydrogen bomb in the mid-1950s the principle was beyond doubt obsolete. It is the only known anti-submarine boom of the Cold War.
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The replacement booms were built 15 to 60 m (16 to 65 yards) west of the old ones between 1950 and 1953 by labourers and servicemen for the
Admiralty. These comprised two offset rows of concrete piles, linked by angle-iron straps. The northern boom had two changes of direction along its length before
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Those at the Essex (north) side have been shortened by 600 m (660 yards), leaving 2.01 km (2,200 yards) projecting from the shore. It has developed a few gaps from loss by erosion of a few piles. The post that marked the transition from the boom to the deep water anti-submarine net remains in
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The remains of the boom and deep, broad channel post are
Hazards on regional shipping charts. A modern navigation light with accompanying mooring bollards and accessway is at the broad channel post. On 25 July 2015 the boom was struck by an empty, drifting fishing vessel.
168:, Kent thus most of the 5.6-mile (9-kilometre) span. In the shallow water at either end, closest to the land, the boom was wooden piles driven into the sandy seabed and reinforced with concrete. From the Essex (north) side these ran for over 1 mile (1.6 km).
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in the mid-20th century. As to the part perpendicular to the north shore most of the latter incarnation remains, and its nearest concrete mooring/patrol point 600 metres south. A 2 km (2,200 yard) stretch, this is designated a
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from attack by submarines, mines and surface vessels. It was dismantled. The second was built between 1950 and 1953 to forestall access to the estuary by Soviet submarines during the
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the mid-north of the channel. The boom is a landmark on this stretch of coast. The structure marks the western boundary of the firing range at the MoD property (managed by
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The boom ran apart from a minor gap for the navigation channel. Its north part ran from the East Beach at
Shoeburyness, Essex. Its south part ran from Royal Oak Point in
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in Kent: 5.6 miles (9.0 km). The first guise consisted of wooden piles driven into the estuary bed save for in the deep-water channel which was protected by an
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and searchlights. Two gates were set in the net for access by shipping, one towards the north for access to the Thames and one towards the south for the
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naval guns and search-light emplacements protected by landward defences. A second boom was placed across the mouth a little further west at
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The remaining portion of the Cold War boom forms the shallow water boundary of the restricted area associated with MoD Shoeburyness
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The remains of
Shoeburyness battery, together with its magazines and search-light emplacements are visible in the grounds of
229:– with no public access. In the south are scant remnants: a line of piles and wrecked boats at East End, close to
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East Coast Rivers
Cruising Companion: A Yachtsman's Pilot and Cruising Guide to the Waters from Lowestoft to Ramsgate
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122:. The second guise added concrete piles at either end of the gap (channel) able to assist Royal Navy vessels.
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quickly rendered the Cold War boom obsolete and it was partially demolished in the 1960s.
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Remains of the Cold War boom. The structure on the right is an unrelated outfall pipe.
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Royal Navy diver preparing to check the mooring lines of one of the gate ships
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and by a coastal battery/emplacement at
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Roberts, Bob; Sleightholme, Des; White, Archie; Roberts, A. w (2000).
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A 3" gun on a ship guarding one of the gates in the anti-submarine net
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firing range, a restricted area. The rest was taken up in the 1960s.
316:) and access is not permitted to the beach beyond. It was granted
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672:"Cold War defence boom, Pig's Bay, Shoeburyness, Southend-on-Sea"
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The
History of the Port of London: A Vast Emporium of All Nations
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Remains of piles and wrecked boats at Royal Oak Point, East End.
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The first guise was built in late 1939, the first months of the
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In the 1960s the piles at the Kent (south) side were removed.
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Where the boom met the deep water channel it became an
206:. Similar protections were quickly installed at the
153:The boom was erected in 1939, at the start of the
483:Writing London and the Thames Estuary: 1576–2016
16:Defensive barrier in the Thames Estuary, England
353:Showing some of the further reaches of the boom
426:Pull Up the Ladder Jack: Seamen Behaving Badly
8:
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187:ports. These were opened by a Royal Navy
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510:Fautley, M. P. B.; Garon, J. H. (2004).
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175:. At intervals along the net 200-ton
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110:Both booms ran most of the way from
429:. Xlibris Corporation. p. 22.
770:Basildon, Canvey and Southend Echo
696:. Southend on Sea Borough Council.
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99:, mainly to protect shipping and
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607:. North Kent Books. p. 46.
577:. North Kent Books. p. 42.
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341:Detail of the first corner angle
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764:Trayner, David (27 July 2015).
547:. Seafarer Books. p. 139.
637:. B.T. Batsford. p. 109.
456:. Pen and Sword. p. 189.
88:and marks the western edge of
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816:World War II sites in England
766:"Boat stuck on Shoebury Boom"
743:. B.T. Batsford. p. 99.
513:Essex Coastline: Then and Now
826:Scheduled monuments in Essex
601:Smith, Victor T. C. (1985).
571:Smith, Victor T. C. (1985).
262:One of the gates in the boom
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516:. Matthew Fautley. p.
75:) refers to two successive
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179:were stationed armed with
831:Military history of Essex
423:Bennett, Eric G. (2012).
210:(to protect the ports of
737:Saunders, A. D. (1997).
631:Saunders, A. D. (1997).
604:Defending London's River
574:Defending London's River
821:Cold War fortifications
710:Harber, Janet (2016).
389:Close up of boom piles
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191:and closed overnight.
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694:"History of Southend"
486:. BRILL. p. 92.
450:Stone, Peter (2017).
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141:Second World War boom
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802:at Wikimedia Commons
544:Coasting Bargemaster
274:Boom defence vessels
716:. Fernhurst Books.
480:Platt, Len (2017).
377:View along the boom
189:boom defence vessel
125:The development of
79:across most of the
73:Thames Estuary Boom
63:(also known as the
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674:. Historic England
318:scheduled monument
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196:Maunsell Sea Forts
181:anti-aircraft guns
173:anti-submarine net
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120:anti-submarine net
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37:51.5271°N 0.8148°E
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800:Thames Boom
212:Southampton
131:jet bombers
101:the capital
69:Thames Boom
40: /
810:Categories
775:22 October
678:24 October
395:References
216:Portsmouth
25:51°31′38″N
218:) and at
166:Sheerness
116:Sheerness
28:0°48′53″E
220:Plymouth
177:lighters
133:and the
105:Cold War
328:Gallery
314:Qinetiq
237:Gallery
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208:Solent
185:Medway
777:2017
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
