Barges.

This is coolbert:

Here with info and remarks regarding the German "landing craft" as would have been needed for Operation Sea Lion, the German invasion of England [1940].

The German not possessing in any quantities landing craft at all adequate for military oceanic amphibious  operations. Having to rely upon European river barges as the means of transport - - if and when the decision had been made - - for a "go" against England! A "means" dubious at best:

"the ability to transport an invasion force across the English Channel requires landing craft, and lots of them. Germany had very few, and they were of very poor quality. Plans for Sealion involved using Rhine river barges for transport across the Channel . . . there simply were not very many of them. The Germans estimated that they had sufficient craft to ship across an invasion force of at most ten divisions.

"The obvious solution for the Navy to assemble a large sea-going invasion fleet in the short time allotted was to convert inland river barges to the task. Towards that end, the Kriegsmarine collected approximately 2,400 barges from throughout Europe (860 from Germany, 1,200 from the Netherlands and Belgium and 350 from France). Of these, only about 800 were powered (some insufficiently). The rest required towing by tugs."

That is ten infantry division, manpower alone, minus the heavy impedimenta, NO artillery and NO tanks!

Manning of these barges too would have been highly dependent upon impressed labor [?], barge crews, "skilled mariners" the demand of which could not be fulfilled.

"The Germans worked out that 22,000 was the bare minimum required number of skilled mariners, outside of the Kriegsmarine, to man the barges and tug boats to get the German invasion force onto the British coast. They could only muster 16,000."

Barges also for the most part unseaworthy, designed and used with intent ONLY for coastal waters of inland waterways, NOT suitable for ocean voyages no matter how slight the distance traveled. Even without enemy counter-action [the English Royal Navy], a pretty good percentage of these river barges would have foundered, loss of life terrible!

EVEN MORE IMPORTANT PERHAPS - - so many inland barges taken out of service and possibly destroyed during Sea Lion, at least damaged to the point of no longer being work-able, that the economy of much of industrial Europe, even during a time of war, would have COME TO A STOP!! European river barge traffic pre-war [1939] absolutely vital for the movement of bulk cargoes, oil, coal, food, other necessities of life having been removed from the scene, chaos and extreme austerity and even worse ensuing.

War is BAD for the economy! Sun Tzu made this observation 2,500 years ago and it is as pertinent now as it was then.

coolbert.