Editing Operation Pluto (section)

== Background ==
In early April 1942, the Chief of [[Combined Operations Headquarters|Combined Operations]], [[Vice-admiral (Royal Navy)|Vice-Admiral]] [[Lord Louis Mountbatten]], approached the [[Secretary for Petroleum]], [[Geoffrey Lloyd, Baron Geoffrey-Lloyd|Geoffrey Lloyd]], and asked if an [[oil pipeline]] could be laid across the [[English Channel]].{{sfn|Krammer|1992|p=443}} Mountbatten was tasked with planning the Allied invasion of [[German-occupied Europe]], and had concerns about the supply of [[petroleum]] products, since it was considered unlikely that a [[port]] with oil reception facilities could be quickly secured.{{sfn|Whittle|2013|p=202}} The British [[War Office]] estimated that 60 per cent or more by weight of the supplies of the expeditionary forces would consist of [[petrol]], [[oil]] and [[lubricant]]s (POL).{{sfn|Krammer|1992|p=442}} In the initial stages of the assault, packaged fuel would be supplied in {{convert|20|L|impgal|adj=on|abbr=off}} [[jerrican]]s and {{convert|44|impgal|L|adj=on|abbr=off}} [[drum (container)|drums]]. To supply the twenty million jerricans required, an entire American manufacturing plant was shipped to the [[Middlesex|London area]], where it was operated by the Magnatex firm under the supervision of the [[Ministry of Supply]].{{sfn|Krammer|1992|p=443}} By 1944, a stockpile of {{convert|250,000|LT|t}} of packaged petrol and [[diesel fuel]] had been accumulated in the UK.{{sfn|Payton-Smith|1971|pp=410–411}}

[[File:IWM-A-28808-John-Hutchings.jpg|thumb|left|[[Captain (Royal Navy)|Captain]] [[John Fenwick Hutchings|J. F. Hutchings]], commander of Operation Pluto]]
After the first few days of the invasion, it was hoped that petroleum could be supplied in bulk.{{sfn|Krammer|1992|p=443}} Pipelines were not the sole or even the principal means by which Combined Operations was contemplating supplying bulk petroleum; it intended to rely primarily on small shallow-draught [[Coastal trading vessel|coastal tanker]]s, of which thirty were under construction.{{sfn|Krammer|1992|p=447}}{{sfn|Payton-Smith|1971|p=334}} American {{convert|600|DWton|lk=on|adj=on}} "Y" tankers began arriving in the UK in the spring of 1944. In 1943, the British also initiated a programme to construct {{convert|400|DWton|adj=on|abbr=on}} [[CHANT (ship type)|Channel tankers]] (Chants), but only 37 were completed by May 1944.{{sfn|Payton-Smith|1971|pp=411–412}} It was hoped that petroleum products might also be supplied by ocean-going [[T2 tanker]]s lying offshore through ship-to-shore pipelines. The project to develop these pipelines was codenamed Operation Tombola, and the pipelines themselves became known as Tombolas.{{sfn|Krammer|1992|p=447}} The submarine pipeline had sufficient advantages to make it worthwhile to explore as a backup means of supply. Submarine pipelines were less susceptible to enemy air attack and the frequently stormy English Channel weather, and their use would reduce the forces' dependency on vulnerable storage tanks ashore.{{sfn|Payton-Smith|1971|p=334}}

Lloyd consulted his expert advisors: [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|Brigadier]] Sir [[Donald Banks]], the director-general of the [[Petroleum Warfare Department]]; Sir {{ill|Arthur Charles Hearn|de}}, a former director of the [[Anglo-Iranian Oil Company]] and the oil advisor to the [[Fourth Sea Lord]]; and [[George Martin Lees]], an eminent [[geologist]].{{sfn|Krammer|1992|p=444}} At the time, submarine pipelines were in use in ports and over short distances, but no pipeline had ever been laid across such a great distance or under the currents and [[tide|tidal conditions]] found in the English Channel. Moreover, to minimise interference by the enemy and the effect of the tides, the entire pipeline would have to be laid in a single night.{{sfn|Payton-Smith|1971|p=334}} They regarded the proposal as infeasible using any known method of construction of pipelines {{convert|6|in|cm}} or more in diameter.{{sfn|Hartley|1945|p=23}}

The Chief Engineer of Anglo-Iranian, [[Clifford Hartley]], was visiting the Petroleum Warfare Department at this time, and he heard about the proposal, and was convinced that it was possible.{{sfn|Krammer|1992|p=444}} In the hilly terrain of Iran, Anglo-Iranian had employed a {{convert|3|in|cm|adj=on}} pipeline. Running at {{convert|1500|psi|kPa|lk=on|abbr=on}}, it delivered {{convert|100000|impgal|L}} per day, the equivalent of over 20,000 jerricans. On 15 April he pitched his proposal for a continuous length of pipeline similar to a [[submarine communications cable]] without the core and insulation, but with armour to withstand the internal pressure, which could be deployed by a [[cable-layer ship]]. Additional capacity could be obtained by laying multiple lines.{{sfn|Hartley|1945|p=23}} By using high pressure, the line could carry different kinds of fuel. At low pressure different fuels would mix, but at high pressure they would stay separate. Thus, the pipeline could be used for [[aviation spirit]], and then switched to diesel fuel.{{sfn|Krammer|1992|pp=444–446}}

The project was given the codename Pluto, which stood for "pipeline underwater transportation of oil" or "pipeline under the ocean".{{efn|The British official ''[[History of the Second World War]]'' Civil Series volume ''Oil'' gives "Pipeline Underwater Transportation of Oil"{{sfn|Payton-Smith|1971|p=334}} but the Military Series volume ''Victory in the West'' gives "Pipe Lines Under the Ocean",{{sfn|Ellis|Warhurst|1968|p=134}} and the Army Series volume ''Maintenance in the Field'' says "pipeline under the ocean".{{sfn|Carter|Kann|1961|p=259}} }} The operation was placed under the chief of staff to the [[Supreme Allied Commander]], Designate (COSSAC). The G-4 section of the COSSAC staff, which assumed responsibility for Pluto, was headed by British Major General [[Nevil Brownjohn]], with American [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] F. L. Rash, Colonel Frank M. Albrecht, and Major General [[Robert W. Crawford (general)|Robert W. Crawford]] successively as his deputy. [[Royal Navy]] [[Captain (Royal Navy)|Captain]] [[John Fenwick Hutchings]] from the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]]'s [[Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Development]] was placed in command of Operation Pluto. By [[VE-Day]] his command would consist of several ships, over 100 [[merchant navy]] officers and more than 1,000 men.{{sfn|Krammer|1992|p=446}}