The naval dimension of the siege of the Atlantic pockets

The siege of the German pockets in the Atlantic between August 1944 and May 1945 gave rise to almost exclusively land-based combat. However, the strategy behind these strongholds included a full maritime dimension, including control of a coastal area thanks to a string of islands that remained occupied by German forces (Groix, Belle-Ile, Quiberon, which could be considered an island since its narrow base was blocked, Oléron and Ré). Furthermore, even though the French Navy was more present on land and in the air than on the water on these fronts, a limited but noticeable naval guerrilla war was initiated early on by FFI crews in the Pertuis Sea, the Gironde estuary and the Brittany coast.

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