Operation Sea Lion

E7461

Operation Sea Lion was Nazi Germany’s planned but never-executed amphibious invasion of Great Britain during World War II.

Aliases (1)
  • German invasion of Britain scare 1940 ×1

Statements (50)
Predicate Object
instanceOf military operation plan
planned amphibious invasion
belligerent Nazi Germany
codename Unternehmen Seelöwe
conflict World War II
country Nazi Germany
followedBy shift of German focus to Operation Barbarossa
geographicFocus English Channel
Great Britain
historicalAssessment considered impractical by many naval experts
historicalSignificance symbol of the unrealized German invasion threat to Britain in 1940
languageOfCodename German
militaryBranchInvolved Heer
Kriegsmarine
Luftwaffe
objective defeat of the United Kingdom
invasion of Great Britain
opponent United Kingdom
opposedBy British Army
Royal Air Force
Royal Navy
partOf German strategy against the United Kingdom
plannedBy Adolf Hitler
German Army High Command
Kriegsmarine
Luftwaffe
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
plannedLandingArea Dorset
Hampshire
Kent
Sussex
southern coast of England
plannedLandingMethod airborne landings by paratroopers
amphibious assault across the English Channel
plannedOpposingForce British home defence forces
plannedStartDate 1940-09-15
plannedUseOf converted river barges for troop transport
planningBegan 1940-07
reasonForCancellation failure to achieve air superiority in the Battle of Britain
logistical difficulties of cross-Channel invasion
strength of the Royal Navy
relatedConcept German invasion of Britain scare 1940
relatedOperation Battle of Britain
requiredPrecondition German air superiority over southern England
German air superiority over the English Channel
status cancelled
never executed
theatre Western Front of World War II
timePeriod 1940
translationOfCodename Operation Sea Lion


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