Phoenix Caissons: Eerie wreckage of the part of a temporary portable harbours to be used for the D-Day preparations captured by drone

The concrete wreck is a Phoenix Breakwater Type C, which were a set of reinforced concrete watertight structures built as part of the artificial Mulberry Harbours assembled as part of the follow-up to the Normandy landings during the second world war. The harbours were created to facilitate the rapid offloading of cargo onto beaches during the D-Day invasion in June 1944.

However, the Phoenix Caissons constructed on Hayling Island developed a crack in its hull whilst waiting for deployment. It sank in Langstone Harbour before it was briefly re-floated and moved further offshore, as it was a hazard to shipping. There, it was scuttled one last time with the plan to repair the caisson later, however, the plan never came to fruition and the hulk was left in the water.

There was a plan in the 1960s for the wreckage to be refloated and all the steel onboard recycled, however, this plan never saw the light of day and over time, exposed to the sea, the caisson broke its back, officially sinking any hopes of salvaging the wreck.

The wreck is visible at all times of the year just to the North of the Hayling Island Landing. Some adventurers have rowed, paddled and even swam out to the wreckage (beware that last one, currents in the harbour are strong), to get a close up look at history.