It is about 560 kilometres (300 nautical miles; 350 statute miles) long and varies in width from 240 km (130 nmi; 150 mi) at its widest to 34 km (18 nmi; 21 mi) at its narrowest in the Strait of Dover.[3] It is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some 75,000 square kilometres (22,000 square nautical miles; 29,000 square miles).[4]
The northern (English) coast of the Channel is more populous than the southern (French) coast. The major languages spoken in this region areEnglish andFrench.
Roman sources named the ChannelOceanus Britannicus (orMare Britannicum, meaning the Ocean, or the Sea, of the Britons orBritannī). Variations of this term were used by influential writers such asPtolemy, and remained popular with British and continental authors well into the modern era. OtherLatin names for the sea includeOceanus Gallicus (the Gaulish Ocean) which was used byIsidore of Seville in the sixth century.[6]
The termBritish Sea is still used by speakers ofCornish andBreton, with the sea known to them asMor Bretannek andMor Breizh respectively. While it is likely that these names derive from the Latin term, it is possible that they predate the arrival of the Romans in the area. Themodern Welsh is often given asMôr Udd (the Lord's or Prince's Sea); however, this name originally described both the Channel and theNorth Sea combined.[7][8]
Anglo-Saxon texts make reference to the sea asSūð-sǣ (South Sea), but this term fell out of favour, as later English authors followed the same conventions as their Latin and Norman contemporaries. One English name that did persist was theNarrow Seas, a collective term for the channel andNorth Sea. As England (followed by Great Britain and the United Kingdom) claimed sovereignty over the sea, a Royal Navy Admiral was appointed with maintaining duties in the two seas. The office was maintained until 1822, when several European nations (including the United Kingdom) adopted a three-mile (4.8 km) limit to territorial waters.[1]
Osborne House, the summer retreat ofQueen Victoria on theIsle of Wight. Starting from the late 18th century, settlements on and around the English Channel coastline in England grew rapidly into thrivingseaside resorts, bolstered by their association with royalty and the middle and upper classes.
The wordchannel was first recorded inMiddle English in the 13th century and was borrowed from theOld French wordchanel (a variant form ofchenel 'canal'). By the middle of the fifteenth century, an Italian map based onPtolemy's description named the sea asBritanicus Oceanus nunc Canalites Anglie (Ocean of the Britons but now English Channel). The map is possibly the first recorded use of the termEnglish Channel and the description suggests the name had recently been adopted.[9]
In the sixteenth century, Dutch maps referred to the sea as theEngelse Kanaal (English Channel) and by the 1590s,William Shakespeare used the wordChannel in his history plays ofHenry VI, suggesting that by that time, the name was popularly understood by English people.[10]
By the eighteenth century, the nameEnglish Channel was in common usage inEngland. Following theActs of Union 1707, this was replaced in official maps and documents withBritish Channel orBritish Sea for much of the next century. However, the term English Channel remained popular and was finally in official usage by the nineteenth century.[11]
The French namela Manche has been used since at least the 17th century.[4] The name is usually said to refer to the sleeve (French:la manche) shape of the Channel.Folk etymology has derived it from aCeltic word meaning 'channel' that is also the source of the name forthe Minch in Scotland,[12] but this name is not attested before the 17th century, and French and British sources of that time are clear about its etymology.[13] The name in French has been directly adapted in other languages as either acalque, such asCanale della Manica in Italian or theÄrmelkanal in German, or a directborrowing, such asCanal de la Mancha in Spanish.
On the West. From the coast ofBrittany westward along the parallel (48°28' N) of the East extreme ofUshant (Lédénès), through this island to West extreme thereof (Pointe de Pern), thence to theBishop Rock, the Southwest extreme of theScilly Isles, and on a line passing to the Westward of these Isles as far as the North extreme (Lion Rock) and thence Eastward to theLongships (50°04' N) and on toLands End.
On the East. The Southwestern limit of theNorth Sea.
The Strait of Dover viewed from France, looking towards England. Thewhite cliffs of Dover on the English coast are visible from France on a clear day.
TheStrait of Dover (French:Pas de Calais), at the Channel's eastern end, is its narrowest point, while its widest point lies betweenLyme Bay and the Gulf ofSaint Malo, near its midpoint.[3] Well on the continental shelf, it has an average depth of about 120 m (390 ft) at its widest; yet averages about 45 m (148 ft) betweenDover andCalais, its notable sandbank hazard beingGoodwin Sands. Eastwards from there the adjoining North Sea reduces to about 26 m (85 ft) across theBroad Fourteens (14 fathoms) where it lies over the southern cusp of the former land bridge betweenEast Anglia and theLow Countries. The North Sea reaches much greater depths east of northern Britain. The Channel descends briefly to 180 m (590 ft) in the submerged valley ofHurd's Deep, 48 km (30 mi) west-northwest ofGuernsey.[15]
Three French river mouths. Top to bottom: theSomme, theAuthie and theCanche.
There are several major islands in the Channel, the most notable being theIsle of Wight off the English coast, and theChannel Islands, BritishCrown Dependencies off the coast of France. The coastline, particularly on the French shore, is deeply indented, with several small islands close to the coastline, includingChausey andMont-Saint-Michel. TheCotentin Peninsula on the French coast juts out into the Channel, with the wide Bay of the Seine (French:Baie de Seine) to its east. On the English side there is a small parallelstrait, theSolent, between the Isle of Wight and the mainland. TheCeltic Sea is to the west of the Channel.
The Channel acts as a funnel that amplifies the tidal range from less than a metre at sea in eastern places to more than 6 metres in theChannel Islands, the west coast of theCotentin Peninsula and the north coast ofBrittany in monthlyspring tides. The time difference of about six hours between high water at the eastern and western limits of the Channel is indicative of thetidal range being amplified further byresonance.[16]Amphidromic points are theBay of Biscay and varying more in precise location in the far south of the North Sea, meaning both those associated eastern coasts repel the tides effectively, leaving the Strait of Dover as every six hours the natural bottleneck short of its consequent gravity-induced repulsion of the southward tide (surge) of the North Sea (equally from the Atlantic). The Channel does not experience, but its existence is necessary to explain the extent ofNorth Sea storm surges, such as necessitate theThames Barrier,Delta Works,Zuiderzee works (Afsluitdijk and other dams).
In the UKShipping Forecast the Channel is divided into the following areas, from the east:
The full English Channel connecting theNorth Sea to theWestern Atlantic via theStrait of Dover is of geologically recent origin, having formed late in thePleistocene period.[17] The English Channel first developed as an arm of the Atlantic Ocean during thePliocene period (5.3-2.6 million years ago) as a result of differentialtectonic uplift along pre-existing tectonic weaknesses during theOligocene andMiocene periods. During this early period, the Channel did not connect to the North Sea,[18] withBritain andIreland remaining part ofcontinental Europe, linked by an unbrokenWeald–Artois anticline, a ridge running between the Dover and Calais regions. During Pleistocene glacial periods this ridge acted as a natural dam holding back a large freshwaterpro-glacial lake in theDoggerland region, now submerged under theNorth Sea. During this period, the North Sea and almost all of the British Isles were covered by ice. The lake was fed by meltwater from the Baltic and from the Caledonian and Scandinavianice sheets that joined to the north, blocking its exit. The sea level was about 120 m (390 ft) lower than it is today. Then, between 450,000 and 180,000 years ago, at least two catastrophicglacial lake outburst floods breached the Weald–Artois anticline. These contributed to creating some of the deepest parts of the channel such asHurd's Deep.
The first flood of 450,000 years ago would have lasted for several months, releasing as much as one million cubic metres of water per second.[19][20] The flood started with large but localised waterfalls over the ridge, which excavated depressions now known as theFossesDangeard. The flow eroded the retaining ridge, causing the rock dam to fail and releasing lake water into the Atlantic. After multiple episodes of changing sea level, during which theFosses Dangeard were largely infilled by various layers of sediment, another catastrophic flood some 180,000 years ago carved a large bedrock-floored valley, theLobourg Channel, some 500 m wide and 25 m deep, from the southern North Sea basin through the centre of theStraits of Dover and into the English Channel.[20] It left streamlined islands, longitudinal erosional grooves, and other features characteristic of catastrophicmegaflood events, still present on the sea floor and now revealed by high-resolution sonar.[21][22][23] Through the scoured channel passed a river, theChannel River, which drained the combinedRhine andThames westwards to the Atlantic.
The flooding destroyed the ridge that connected Britain tocontinental Europe, although a land connection across the southernNorth Sea would have existed intermittently at later times when periods ofglaciation resulted in lowering of sea levels.[24]
Duringinterglacial periods (when sea levels were high) between the initial flooding 450,000 years ago until around 180,000 years ago, the Channel would still have been separated from the North Sea by a land bridge to the north of the Strait of Dover (the Strait of Dover at this time formed part of anestuary fed by the Thames andScheldt), restricting interchange of marine fauna between the Channel and the North Sea (except perhaps by occasional overtopping). During theLast Interglacial/Eemian (115–130,000 years ago) the connection between the North Sea and the English Channel was fully open as it is today, resulting in Britain being an island during this interval, before lowered sea levels reconnected it to the continent during theLast Glacial Period.[25] From the end of the Last Glacial Period, to the beginning of the Holocene rising sea levels again resulted in the unimpeded connection between the North Sea and the English Channel resuming due to the sinking ofDoggerland, with Britain again becoming an island.[26]
As a busy shipping lane, the Channel experiences environmental problems following accidents involving ships with toxic cargo and oil spills.[27] Indeed, over 40% of the UK incidents threatening pollution occur in or very near the Channel.[28] One occurrence was theMSCNapoli, which on 18 January 2007 was beached with nearly 1700 tonnes of dangerous cargo in Lyme Bay, a protected World Heritage Site coastline.[29] The ship had been damaged and was en route toPortland Harbour.
The English Channel, despite being a busy shipping lane, remains in part a haven for wildlife. Atlantic oceanic species are more common in the westernmost parts of the channel, particularly to the west ofStart Point, Devon, but can sometimes be found further east towards Dorset and the Isle of Wight. Seal sightings are becoming more common along the English Channel, with bothgrey seal andharbour seal recorded frequently.
The Channel is thought to have preventedNeanderthals from colonising Britain during the Last Interglacial/Eemian, though they returned to Britain during the Last Glacial Period when sea levels were lower.[30] The Channel has in historic times been both an easy entry for seafaring people and a key natural defence, halting invading armies while in conjunction with control of the North Sea allowing Britain to blockade the continent.[citation needed] The most significant failed invasion threats came when the Dutch and Belgian ports were held by a major continental power, e.g. from theSpanish Armada in 1588,Napoleon during theNapoleonic Wars, andNazi Germany duringWorld War II. Successful invasions include theRoman conquest of Britain, theNorman Conquest in 1066 and theGlorious Revolution of 1688, while the concentration of excellent harbours in the Western Channel on Britain's south coast made possible the largest amphibious invasion in history, theNormandy Landings in 1944. Channelnaval battles include theBattle of the Downs (1639),Battle of Dover (1652), theBattle of Portland (1653) and theBattle of La Hougue (1692).
In more peaceful times, the Channel served as a link joining shared cultures and political structures, particularly the hugeAngevin Empire from 1135 to 1217. For nearly a thousand years, the Channel also provided a link between theModern Celtic regions and languages ofCornwall andBrittany. Brittany was founded byBritons who fledCornwall andDevon after Anglo-Saxon encroachment. In Brittany, there is a region known as "Cornouaille" (Cornwall) in French and "Kernev" inBreton.[31] In ancient times there was also a "Domnonia" (Devon) in Brittany as well.
InFebruary 1684, ice formed on the sea in a belt 4.8 km (3.0 mi) wide off the coast ofKent and 3.2 km (2.0 mi) wide on the French side.[32][33]
In the power vacuum left by the retreating Romans, the GermanicAngles,Saxons, andJutes began the next great migration across the North Sea. Having already been used as mercenaries in Britain by the Romans, many people from these tribes crossed during theMigration Period, conquering and perhaps displacing the nativeCeltic populations.[38]
The Hermitage ofSt Helier lies in the bay offSaint Helier and is accessible on foot at low tide.
The attack onLindisfarne in 793 is generally considered the beginning of theViking Age. For the next 250 years the Scandinavian raiders of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark dominated the North Sea, raiding monasteries, homes, and towns along the coast and along the rivers that ran inland. According to theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle they began to settle in Britain in 851. They continued to settle in theBritish Isles and the continent until around 1050, with some raids recorded along the channel coast of England, including at Wareham, Portland, near Weymouth and along the river Teign in Devon.[39]
Landing in England scene from theBayeux Tapestry, depicting ships coming in and horses landing
Rollo's descendantWilliam, Duke of Normandy, became king of England in 1066 in theNorman Conquest beginning with theBattle of Hastings, while retaining the fiefdom of Normandy for himself and his descendants. In 1204, during the reign ofKing John, mainland Normandy was taken from England by France underPhilip II, while insular Normandy (theChannel Islands) remained under English control. In 1259,Henry III of England recognised the legality of French possession of mainland Normandy under theTreaty of Paris. His successors, however, often fought to regain control of mainland Normandy.
With the rise ofWilliam the Conqueror, the North Sea and Channel began to lose some of their importance. The new order oriented most of England and Scandinavia's trade south, toward theMediterranean and the Orient.
Although the British surrendered claims to mainland Normandy and other French possessions in 1801, the monarch of the United Kingdom retains the title Duke of Normandy in respect to the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands (except forChausey) areCrown Dependencies of theBritish Crown. Thus theLoyal toast in the Channel Islands isLe roi, notre Duc ("The King, our Duke"). The British monarch is understood tonot be the Duke of Normandy in regards of the French region of Normandy described herein, by virtue of theTreaty of Paris of 1259, the surrender of French possessions in 1801, and the belief that the rights of succession to that title are subject toSalic Law which excludes inheritance through female heirs.
French Normandy was occupied by English forces during theHundred Years' War in 1346–1360 and again in 1415–1450.
From the reign ofElizabeth I, English foreign policy concentrated on preventing invasion across the Channel by ensuring no major European power controlled the potential Dutch and Flemish invasion ports. Her climb to the pre-eminentsea power of the world began in 1588 as the attempted invasion of theSpanish Armada was defeated by the combination of outstanding naval tactics by the English and the Dutch under command ofCharles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham withSir Francis Drake second in command, and the following stormy weather. Over the centuries theRoyal Navy slowly grew to be the most powerful in the world.[citation needed]
The building of theBritish Empire was possible only because theRoyal Navy eventually managed to exercise unquestioned control over the seas around Europe, especially the Channel and the North Sea. During theSeven Years' War, France attempted tolaunch an invasion of Britain. To achieve this France needed to gain control of the Channel for several weeks, but was thwarted following the British naval victory at theBattle of Quiberon Bay in 1759 and was unsuccessful (The last French landing on English soil being in 1690 with a raid on Teignmouth, although the last French raid on British soil was a raid on Fishguard, Wales in 1797).
Another significant challenge to British domination of the seas came during theNapoleonic Wars. TheBattle of Trafalgar took place off the coast of Spain against a combined French and Spanish fleet and was won by AdmiralHoratio Nelson, endingNapoleon's plans for a cross-Channel invasion and securing British dominance of the seas for over a century.
The exceptional strategic importance of the Channel as a tool for blockading was recognised by the First Sea LordAdmiral Fisher in the years beforeWorld War I. "Five keys lock up the world! Singapore, the Cape,Alexandria, Gibraltar, Dover."[40] However, on 25 July 1909Louis Blériot made the first Channel crossing fromCalais toDover in an aeroplane. Blériot's crossing signalled a change in the function of the Channel as a barrier-moat for England against foreign enemies.
Because theKaiserliche Marine surface fleet could not match the British Grand Fleet, the Germans developedsubmarine warfare, which was to become a far greater threat to Britain. TheDover Patrol, set up just before the war started, escorted cross-Channel troopships and prevented submarines from sailing in the Channel, obliging them to travel to the Atlantic via the much longer route around Scotland.
On land, theGerman army attempted to capture French Channel ports in theRace to the Sea but although the trenches are often said to have stretched "from the frontier of Switzerland to the English Channel", they reached the coast at the North Sea. Much of the British war effort inFlanders was a bloody but successful strategy to prevent the Germans reaching the Channel coast.
At the outset of the war, an attempt was made to block the path ofU-boats through the Dover Strait withnaval minefields. By February 1915, this had been augmented by a 25 kilometres (16 mi) stretch of light steel netting called theDover Barrage, which it was hoped would ensnare submerged submarines. After initial success, the Germans learned how to pass through the barrage, aided by the unreliability of British mines.[41] On 31 January 1917, the Germans resumedunrestricted submarine warfare leading to dire Admiralty predictions that submarines would defeat Britain by November,[42] the most dangerous situation Britain faced in either world war.[43]
TheBattle of Passchendaele in 1917 was fought to reduce the threat by capturing the submarine bases on the Belgian coast, though it was the introduction ofconvoys and not capture of the bases that averted defeat. In April 1918 the Dover Patrol carried out theZeebrugge Raid against the U-boat bases. During 1917, the Dover Barrage was re-sited with improved mines and more effective nets, aided by regular patrols by small warships equipped with powerful searchlights. A German attack on these vessels resulted in theBattle of Dover Strait in 1917.[44] A much more ambitious attempt to improve the barrage, by installing eight massive concrete towers across the strait was called theAdmiralty M-N Scheme but only two towers were nearing completion at the end of the war and the project was abandoned.[45]
The naval blockade in the Channel and North Sea was one of the decisive factors in the German defeat in 1918.[46]
The Channel subsequently became the stage for an intensive coastal war, featuring submarines,minesweepers, andFast Attack Craft.[5]
The narrow waters of the Channel were considered too dangerous for major warships until theNormandy Landings with the exception, for the GermanKriegsmarine, of theChannel Dash (Operation Cerberus) in February 1942, and this required the support of theLuftwaffe inOperation Thunderbolt.
150 mm Second World War German gun emplacement in NormandyAs part of theAtlantic Wall, between 1940 and 1945 the occupyingGerman forces and theOrganisation Todt constructed fortifications round the coasts of the Channel Islands, such as this observation tower at Les Landes, Jersey.
The Channel Islands were the only part of theBritish Commonwealthoccupied by Germany (excepting the part ofEgypt occupied by theAfrika Korps at the time of theSecond Battle of El Alamein, which was a protectorate and not part of the Commonwealth). The German occupation of 1940–1945 was harsh, with some island residents being taken forslave labour on the Continent; native Jews sent toconcentration camps;partisan resistance and retribution; accusations ofcollaboration; and slave labour (primarily Russians and eastern Europeans) being brought to the islands to build fortifications.[50][51] TheRoyal Navy blockaded the islands from time to time, particularly following theliberation of mainland Normandy in 1944. Intense negotiations resulted in someRed Cross humanitarian aid, but there was considerable hunger and privation during the occupation, particularly in the final months, when the population was close to starvation. The German troops on the islands surrendered on 9 May 1945, a day after the final surrender in mainland Europe.
Arrivals by month each year on small boats via the English Channel
There is significant public concern in the UK about illegal immigrants coming on small boats from France. Since 2018, the English Channel has seen a major increase in the number of crossings.[52]
The English Channel coast is far more densely populated on the English shore. The most significant towns and cities along both the English and French sides of the Channel (each with more than 20,000 inhabitants, ranked in descending order; populations are the urban area populations from the 1999 French census, 2001 UK census, and 2001Jersey census) are as follows:
Kelham'sDictionary of the Norman or Old French Language (1779), definingLaw French, a language historically used in English law courts
The two dominant cultures are English on the north shore of the Channel, French on the south. However, there are also a number of minority languages that are or were found on the shores and islands of the English Channel, which are listed here, with the Channel's name in the specific language following them.
The Channel has traffic on both the UK–Europe and North Sea–Atlantic routes, and is the world's busiest seaway, with over 500 ships per day.[54] Following an accident in January 1971 and a series of disastrous collisions with wreckage in February,[55] the Dover TSS,[56] the world's firstradar-controlledtraffic separation scheme, was set up by theInternational Maritime Organization. The scheme mandates that vessels travelling north must use the French side, travelling south the English side. There is a separation zone between the two lanes.[57]
In December 2002 theMVTricolor, carrying £30m of luxury cars, sank 32 km (20 mi) northwest of Dunkirk after collision in fog with the container shipKariba. The cargo shipNicola ran into the wreckage the next day. There was no loss of life.[58]
The beach of Le Havre and a part of the rebuilt city
The shore-based long-range traffic control system was updated in 2003 and there is a series of traffic separation systems in operation.[59] Though the system is inherently incapable of reaching the levels of safety obtained from aviation systems such as thetraffic collision avoidance system, it has reduced accidents to one or two per year.[60]
MarineGPS systems allow ships to be preprogrammed to follow navigational channels accurately and automatically, further avoiding risk of running aground, but following the fatal collision between Dutch Aquamarine and Ash in October 2001, Britain'sMarine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) issued a safety bulletin saying it believed that in these most unusual circumstances GPS use had actually contributed to the collision.[61] The ships were maintaining a very precise automated course, one directly behind the other, rather than making use of the full width of the traffic lanes as a human navigator would.
A combination of radar difficulties in monitoring areas near cliffs, a failure of a CCTV system, incorrect operation of the anchor, the inability of the crew to follow standard procedures of using a GPS to provide early warning of the ship dragging the anchor and reluctance to admit the mistake and start the engine led to the MVWilly running aground inCawsand Bay,Cornwall, in January 2002. The MAIB report makes it clear that the harbour controllers were informed of impending disaster by shore observers before the crew were themselves aware.[62] The village ofKingsand was evacuated for three days because of the risk of explosion, and the ship was stranded for 11 days.[63][64][65]
Many travellers cross beneath the Channel using the Channel Tunnel, first proposed in the early 19th century and finally opened in 1994, connecting the UK and France by rail. It is now routine to travel between Paris orBrussels and London on theEurostar train. Freight trains also use the tunnel. Cars, coaches and lorries are carried onEurotunnel Shuttle trains betweenFolkestone andCalais.
TheMont Saint-Michel is one of the most visited and recognisable landmarks on the English Channel.
The coastal resorts of the Channel, such asBrighton andDeauville, inaugurated an era of aristocratic tourism in the early 19th century. Short trips across the Channel for leisure purposes are often referred to asChannel hopping.
TheRampion Wind Farm is an offshore wind farm located in the Channel, off the coast ofWest Sussex.[67] Other offshore wind farms planned on the French side of the Channel.[68]
As one of the narrowest and most well-known international waterways lacking dangerous currents, the Channel has been the first objective of numerous innovative sea, air, andhuman powered crossing technologies.[69]Pre-historic people sailed from the mainland to England for millennia. At the end of thelast Ice Age, lower sea levels even permittedwalking across.[70][71]
Race between a twin-screw steamer and a paddle steamer carrying mail. This race proved the superiority of screw over paddle.
TheAtalanta Twin-Screw Steamer and the Dover Mail-PacketEmpress[73]
The Atalanta newly built by Messrs. J. and W. Dudgeon, of Cubitt Town Yard, Millwall, made the trip from to Dover to Calais in 77 minutes; the Empress, owned by the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company took 107 minutes.
25 July 1959
Hovercraft crossing (Calais to Dover, 2 hours 3 minutes)
The Varne Boat Club ran an annual cross-channel ski race from the 1960s onwards. The race was from the Varne club in Greatstone on Sea to Cap Gris Nez / Boulogne (latter years) and back. Many waterskiers have made this return crossing non-stop since this time.[citation needed] Youngest known waterskier to cross the Channel was John Clements aged 10, from the Varne Boat Club on 22 August 1974 who crossed from Littlestone to Boulogne and back without falling.[citation needed]
22 August 1972
First solo hovercraft crossing (same route as SR-N1; 2 hours 20 minutes)[74]
As part of a publicity stunt, the journey was undertaken to demonstrate how the Bull Boats of the Mandan Indians of North Dakota could have been copied from Welsh coracles introduced by Prince Madog in the 12th century.[75]
A four-man relay team from Scarborough, headed by Heath Samples, crossed from Shakespeare Beach to Wissant.[citation needed]
It took 12 hours 26 minutes 39 seconds and set a new Guinness World Record.
Pierre Andriel crossed the English Channel aboard theÉlise, ex the Scottish p.s. "Margery" in March 1816, one of the earliest seagoing voyages bysteam ship.
The paddle steamerDefiance, Captain William Wager, was the first steamer to cross the Channel to Holland, arriving there on 9 May 1816.[72]
On 10 June 1821, English-builtpaddle steamerRob Roy was the first passenger ferry to cross channel. The steamer was purchased subsequently by the French postal administration and renamedHenri IV and put into regular passenger service a year later. It was able to make the journey across the Straits of Dover in around three hours.[80]
In June 1843, because of difficulties with Dover harbour, the South Eastern Railway company developed theBoulogne-sur-Mer-Folkestone route as an alternative to Calais-Dover. The first ferry crossed under the command ofCaptain Hayward.[81]
In 1974 a Welsh coracle piloted by Bernard Thomas of Llechryd crossed the English Channel to France in 131⁄2 hours. The journey was undertaken to demonstrate how theBull Boats of theMandan Indians ofNorth Dakota could have been copied from coracles introduced byPrince Madog in the 12th century.[82][83]
TheMountbatten class hovercraft (MCH) entered commercial service in August 1968, initially between Dover and Boulogne but later alsoRamsgate (Pegwell Bay) to Calais. The journey time Dover to Boulogne was roughly 35 minutes, with six trips per day at peak times. The fastest crossing of the English Channel by a commercial car-carrying hovercraft was 22 minutes, recorded by thePrincess Anne MCH SR-N4 Mk3 on 14 September 1995,[84]
Louis Blériot (France) piloted the first aeroplane to cross in 1909.
On 26 September 2008, SwissYves Rossy akaJetman became the first person to cross the English Channel with aJet Powered Wing,He jumped from aPilatus Porter overCalais, France, Rossy crossed the English Channel where he deployed his parachute and landed inDover[86]
The firstflying car to have crossed the English Channel is a Pégase designed by the French company Vaylon on 14 June 2017. It was piloted by a Franco-Italian pilot Bruno Vezzoli. This crossing was carried out as part of the first road and air trip from Paris to London in a flying car. Pegase is a 2 seats road approved dune buggy and apowered paraglider. The takeoff was at 8:03 a.m. fromAmbleteuse in the North of France and landing was at East Studdal, near Dover. The flight was completed in 1 hour and 15 minutes for a total distance covered of 72.5 km (45.0 mi) including 33.3 km (20.7 mi) over the English Channel at an altitude of 1,240 metres (4,070 ft) .[87]
On 4 August 2019, FrenchmanFranky Zapata became the first person to cross the English Channel on a jet-poweredFlyboard Air. The board was powered by a kerosene-filled backpack. Zapata made the 35.4 km (22.0 mi) journey in 22 minutes, having landed on a boat half-way across to refuel.[89]
The sport of Channel swimming traces its origins to the latter part of the 19th century when CaptainMatthew Webb made the first observed and unassisted swim across the Strait of Dover, swimming from England to France on 24–25 August 1875 in 21 hours 45 minutes.
Up to 1927, fewer than ten swimmers (including the first woman,Gertrude Ederle in 1926) had managed to successfully swim the English Channel, and many dubious claims had been made. The Channel Swimming Association (CSA) was founded to authenticate and ratify swimmers' claims to have swum the Channel and to verify crossing times. The CSA was dissolved in 1999 and was succeeded by two separate organisations: CSA Ltd (CSA) and the Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation (CSPF), both observe and authenticate cross-Channel swims in the Strait of Dover.[90] The Channel Crossing Association was also set up to cater for unorthodox crossings.[91]
The team with the most Channel swims to its credit is theSerpentine Swimming Club in London,[92] followed by the internationalSri Chinmoy Marathon Team.[93]
As of 2023, 1,881 people had completed 2,428 verified solo crossings under the rules of the CSA and the CSPF.[94] This includes 24 two-way crossings and three three-way crossings.[95]
The Strait of Dover is the busiest stretch of water in the world.[citation needed] It is governed by International Law as described inUnorthodox Crossing of the Dover Strait Traffic Separation Scheme.[96] It states: "[In] exceptional cases the French Maritime Authorities may grant authority for unorthodox craft to cross French territorial waters within the Traffic Separation Scheme when these craft set off from the British coast, on condition that the request for authorisation is sent to them with the opinion of the British Maritime Authorities."
The fastest verified swim of the Channel was by the AustralianTrent Grimsey on 8 September 2012, in 6 hours 55 minutes,[97][98] beating a swim of 2007. The female record is held byYvetta Hlavacova of Czechia, on 7 hours, 25 minutes on 5 August 2006.[98] Both records were from England to France.[98]
There may have been some unreported swims of the Channel, by people intent on entering Britain in circumvention of immigration controls. A failed attempt to cross the Channel by two Syrian refugees in October 2014 came to light when their bodies were discovered on the shores of the North Sea in Norway and the Netherlands.[99]
First submarine cable for telegraph across the Channel in September laid fromSt. Margaret's Bay, England toSangatte, France (commonly referred to as the Dover to Calais cable)
PLUTO was a war-time fuel delivery project of "pipelines under the ocean" from England to France. Though plagued with technical difficulties during the Battle of Normandy, the pipelines delivered about 8% of the fuel requirements of the Allied forces between D-Day and VE-Day.
^"Map of Great Britain, ca. 1450".The unveiling of Britain.British Library. 26 March 2009.Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved1 November 2013.This may also be the first map to name the English Channel: "britanicus oceanus nunc canalites Anglie"
^Geoffrey Miller.The Millstone: Chapter 2.Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved1 November 2008. quoting Fisher,Naval Necessities I, p. 219
^abDawson, Charles (February 1998). "P. S. Defiance, the first steamer to Holland, 9 May 1816".The Mariner's Mirror.84 (1). The Society for Nautical Research: 84.
