Lutjens proposed beaching the old battleships Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein on the Varne Bank as part of Operation Sea Lion. Their guns would deny the Royal Navy passage through the Dover Strait and help protect the invasion crossing. Grounding them was supposed to let them continue fighting despite holes that would otherwise threaten a floating ship. Raeder accepted the proposal, but technical specialists objected that the ships could capsize and that their stationary posture and inadequate protection made them unsuitable. British heavy ships, including Nelson and Rodney, could bombard a fixed position without needing to sink it in the usual sense. Grounding a hull would not protect its fighting equipment from bombardment.
Notable Point · 1:30:41-1:33:01
The proposal to beach battleships in the Dover Strait
Lutjens proposed grounding Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein on the Varne Bank to obstruct British warships, but their fixed position and weak protection undermined the idea.