Successful amphibious landings are

Successful amphibious landings are based on careful planning and a comprehensive knowledge of the environmental conditions that influence the landings. Weather, with its immediate effects on wind and waves, and the hydrography and topography of the BLS, are two of these environmental conditions. The third element is tide and tidal current data. Mistiming tides and tidal currents will have an immediate and obvious effect on the potential success or failure of a waterborne operation. History is full of invasion forces and raiding teams trapped and wiped out while crossing tidal flats at low tide. There were also many reconnaissance elements lost at sea or compromised by daylight because they could not make headway against contrary currents. Many of these operational disasters could have been avoided with proper prior planning.