42-3-28 St Nazaire Raid

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The Atlantic Ocean was vital to the British during WW2 as it was the only way they could get supplies into the Country. They needed to keep the German Navy away from the Atlantic.

 
One way to do this was to cut off access to anywhere their Navy would be able to repair ships. The port of St. Nazaire in occupied France was the only port, outside Germany, large enough to repair the largest of the German Ships (like the Tirpitz). Without it, the Germans wouldn’t be able to control the Atlantic and wouldn't be able to stop the supply convoys from reaching the UK.

 
Putting that port out of action caused the British a dilemma. The RAF couldn’t bomb it accurately enough to destroy it, without using so many bombs that they would inflict large numbers of civilian casualties. A conventional attack from the sea was out of the question as the port was six miles up the Loire estuary and was heavily defended. The underground resistance movement and Special Operations Executive couldn’t get enough explosives into the dock to destroy it.

 
The only solution was a commando raid, codenamed: Operation Chariot. One that would see 87 bravery medals awarded and be described as the greatest commando raids ever.

HMS Campbeltown, an obsolete WW1 destroyer was sent on a one way mission to St Nazaire. A floating time bomb, its intent was to destroy the only dry dock capable of repairing Tirpitz on the North Atlantic coast. An incredibly important mission that was seen by many to be too dangerous. In many circles Operation Chariot has become known as the Greatest Raid of all time. It came at great cost and was achieved only through the extreme bravery of those involved.

The St Nazaire Raid or Operation Chariot was a British amphibious attack on the heavily defended Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire in German-occupied France during WW2. The operation was undertaken by the Royal Navy and British Commandos under the auspices of Combined Operations Headquarters on 28 March 1942. St Nazaire was targeted because the loss of its dry dock would force any large German warship in need of repairs, such as Tirpitz, sister ship of Bismarck, to return to home waters by running the gauntlet of the Home Fleet of the Royal Navy and other British forces, via the English Channel or the North Sea.

The obsolete destroyer HMS Campbeltown, accompanied by 18 smaller craft, crossed the English Channel to the Atlantic coast of France and was rammed into the Normandie dock gates. The ship had been packed with delayed-action explosives, well-hidden within a steel and concrete case, that detonated later that day, putting the dock out of service until 1948.

A force of commandos landed to destroy machinery and other structures. German gunfire sank, set ablaze, or immobilized virtually all the small craft intended to transport the commandos back to England. The commandos fought their way through the town to escape overland but many surrendered when they ran out of ammunition or were surrounded by the Wehrmacht defending Saint-Nazaire.

Of the 611 men who undertook the raid, 228 returned to Britain, 169 were killed and 215 became prisoners of war. German casualties included over 360 dead, some of whom were killed after the raid when Campbeltown exploded. To recognise their bravery, 89 members of the raiding party were awarded decorations, including five Victoria Crosses. After the war, St Nazaire was one of 38 battle honours awarded to the commandos. The operation has been called The Greatest Raid of All within British military circles.