50 Fun Facts About English Channel

The English Channel separates southern England from which country?

It is an arm of the Atlantic that links to the North Sea at its narrow north-eastern end.

What is the French name for the English Channel?

It is usually said to refer to the sea's sleeve shape; German copies the idea as Armelkanal.

What is the name of the narrow passage at the Channel's north-eastern end?

The French call it the Pas de Calais.

How wide is the Channel at its narrowest point?

At its widest, between Lyme Bay and the Gulf of Saint Malo, it stretches about 240 km.

Roughly how long is the English Channel?

It covers about 75,000 square kilometres, the smallest of the shallow seas on Europe's continental shelf.

What global distinction does the English Channel hold for sea traffic?

More than 500 ships pass through it every day.

What did the Romans call the English Channel?

Isidore of Seville later called it Oceanus Gallicus, and Cornish and Breton speakers still say 'British Sea'.

What did Anglo-Saxon texts call the Channel?

The term Narrow Seas, covering both the Channel and North Sea, persisted for centuries and had its own Royal Navy admiral until 1822.

Which playwright's Henry VI plays use 'Channel', showing the name was common by the 1590s?

After the 1707 Acts of Union, official maps briefly preferred 'British Channel' before the older name won out.

What is the largest island off the English coast of the Channel?

The Solent, a small parallel strait, separates it from the mainland; a Mesolithic boatyard has been found on it.

What is the name of the submerged valley where the Channel briefly reaches 180 metres, west of Guernsey?

Elsewhere the Channel averages only about 45 metres deep between Dover and Calais.

What is the notorious sandbank hazard between Dover and Calais called?

The water there averages only about 45 metres in depth.

Which of these is one of the four UK Shipping Forecast areas into which the Channel is divided?

From east to west they are Dover, Wight, Portland and Plymouth.

The Channel funnels spring tides to more than what range on the west coast of the Cotentin?

High water at the eastern and western ends differs by about six hours, a sign of resonance boosting the range further.

What natural feature once joined Britain to the continent between Dover and Calais?

During ice ages this ridge dammed a huge glacial lake in what is now the North Sea.

About how long ago did the first catastrophic glacial flood begin cutting the passage between Dover and Calais?

It may have released a million cubic metres of water per second for months, gouging depressions now called the Fosses Dangeard.

In which year did Julius Caesar first invade Britain across the Channel?

He returned more successfully in 54 BC, but Britain only became Roman after Aulus Plautius's invasion in 43 AD.

The Viking leader Rollo was granted the land that became Normandy by treaty in which year?

The name Normandy reflects his 'Northman' origins; his descendant William conquered England in 1066.

Who held overall command of the English fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588?

Drake was second in command; stormy weather finished what the English and Dutch tactics started.

Which 1759 naval victory thwarted a planned invasion of Britain during the Seven Years' War?

France needed control of the Channel for several weeks and never got it.

Where was the last French landing on English soil, in 1690?

The last French raid on British soil was at Fishguard in Wales in 1797.

Which admiral's victory at Trafalgar ended Napoleon's plans for a cross-Channel invasion?

The battle was fought off the coast of Spain against a combined French and Spanish fleet.

Who made the first aeroplane crossing of the Channel, from Calais to Dover, in July 1909?

Admiral Fisher had just called Dover one of the 'five keys' that lock up the world; the flight showed the moat could be jumped.

In 1785 the first aircraft crossed the Channel. What kind of craft was it?

Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries were aboard.

What was the name of the First World War naval force that kept U-boats from using the Channel?

Blocked from the short cut, German submarines had to reach the Atlantic the long way round Scotland.

How many Allied troops were evacuated from Dunkirk across the Channel in Operation Dynamo in 1940?

Operations Cycle and Aerial then rescued around 200,000 more from Le Havre and ports further west.

What was the codename of Hitler's planned cross-Channel invasion of Britain?

It depended on winning air supremacy in the Battle of Britain, which the Luftwaffe never achieved.

What was the German warships' bold February 1942 run from Brest to Germany through the narrow sea called?

Codenamed Operation Cerberus, it needed Luftwaffe cover under Operation Thunderbolt.

Which was the only part of the British Commonwealth occupied by Germany in the Second World War?

The garrison surrendered on 9 May 1945, a day after the war in Europe ended, with the population near starvation.

What did the wartime project PLUTO deliver across the Channel?

Pipelines Under The Ocean supplied about eight percent of Allied fuel needs between D-Day and VE-Day.

The Channel Tunnel opened in which year?

Proposals go back to 1802; the modern project cost £4.65 billion.

The Channel Tunnel connects Folkestone with which French town?

The tunnel is just over 50 km long and remains the only fixed link between Britain and the mainland.

How long is the Channel Tunnel's underwater section, the longest of any tunnel in the world?

It reaches 75 metres below sea level and runs on average 45 metres beneath the seabed.

Which tunnel has since overtaken the Channel Tunnel as Europe's longest?

The Swiss tunnel opened in 2016; the Channel Tunnel is now the world's third-longest railway tunnel.

Who made the first observed, unassisted swim across the Channel in August 1875?

He set off from Dover and landed on the French coast the following day.

How long did the first successful Channel swim in 1875 take?

Fewer than ten people had repeated the feat by 1927, prompting the founding of the Channel Swimming Association.

Who became the first woman to swim the Channel, in 1926?

She was among fewer than ten swimmers to have managed it by 1927.

Who holds the fastest verified Channel swim, 6 hours 55 minutes in 2012?

The Australian beat a 2007 record; the women's record of 7 hours 25 minutes belongs to Yvetta Hlavacova of Czechia.

As of 2023, roughly how many people had completed verified solo swims of the Channel?

Between them they logged 2,428 crossings, including 24 two-way and three three-way swims.

Which London club has the most Channel swims to its credit?

The international Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team is second.

What was the Gossamer Albatross, which crossed the Channel on 12 June 1979?

Built by Paul MacCready's company and pedalled by Bryan Allen, it took 2 hours 49 minutes.

Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy crossed the Channel in 2008 using what?

'Jetman' jumped from a plane over Calais and parachuted down at Dover.

How did Frenchman Franky Zapata cross the Channel in 22 minutes in August 2019?

He landed on a boat halfway across to refuel his kerosene backpack.

In 1965 two vehicles of what type drove from Dover into the sea and crossed to Calais?

The German-built amphibious cars made the crossing on 16 September.

What was set up in the Channel in 1971 after a series of collisions, a world first for shipping?

Northbound vessels use the French side and southbound the English side, cutting accidents to one or two a year.

What was the fastest recorded crossing by a commercial car-carrying hovercraft, set in 1995?

The Mountbatten class hovercraft had entered service between Dover and Boulogne in 1968.

The Channel's widest point lies between Lyme Bay and which stretch of French coast?

There it averages about 120 metres deep, against only 45 metres between Dover and Calais.

What title does the British monarch still hold in respect of the Channel Islands?

Hence the islands' loyal toast is 'Le roi, notre Duc' - the King, our Duke.

What was the Rob Roy, which crossed the Channel on 10 June 1821?

France's postal administration later bought it, renamed it Henri IV and ran a regular service taking about three hours.

In 1843 the South Eastern Railway opened a Folkestone route to which French port as an alternative to Dover-Calais?

The switch was prompted by difficulties with Dover harbour; Captain Hayward commanded the first crossing.