Raid on St. Nazaire

I have always been intrigued by the British raid on the docks of St. Nazaire. Clearly, the raid was an audacious undertaking. However, the fear that drove the raid may not have been as large as it loomed in the mind that lived at 10 Downing Street.

From the start of the war, the British were consumed by the perceived threat of the new German battleship the Tirpitz and her sister ship, the Bismarck. Winston Churchill and the top naval strategists in Britain feared that the newly built battleships would target the Atlantic convoys that were the vital lifeline for Britain.

And since the enormous Normandy dock at St Nazaire in France was the only site that was large enough to repair these behemoths, these dry docks immediately took on great importance, with London believing that if could be put out of action, then Hitler would not send them into the Atlantic to raid convoys.

Thus, the question in London was how to destroy the dock? The RAF’s assessment was that bombs were not accurate enough to hit the gate. Consequently, the Brits Decided sending in an aging destroyer, the HMS Campbeltown, revamped to look like a German destroyer. In the plan, a 8,500-lbs. bomb would be hidden in the bow, and the ship would rammed into the dock, while a contingent British commandos would attack the dry dock control facilities. To achieve its goal, the Campbeltown would have to sail six miles up the Loire estuary, past 80 German emplacements towards the dock.

The plan called for the ship to ram the 1,500-ton gate, with commandos jump off the ship, and destroying as much of the infrastructure as they could, and occupying the German defenders attention until the bomb did its work. Once the raid was complete, the raiders were supposed to egress on wooden boats which had accompanied the destroyer.

Finally, the plan was approved and a dated was set; On the night of 28 March 1942, the Campbeltown entered the estuary but soon, the Germans discovered the ruse - and searchlights and gunfire lit up the night sky. Despite being unmasked, the ship dodged the shells and raced for the docks, eventually ramming them squarely just after 01:30, and quickly disgorging the commandos who were carrying bags full of explosives, as enemy bullets whizzed past them. When the commandos reached the building, they were surprised to find the control room for the pumps and winding house building locked. It took approximately 15 minutes for the raiding party to lay the charges. When the charge finally blew, the winding house rose up into the air before failing to earth in splintering into small pieces.

However, when they looked out in the water for the wooden boats they were to use in their escape, they saw that they were burning. Soon, orders were issued for the men to fight through town and head for the Spanish border - hundreds of miles away - and then on to Gibraltar.

Not everyone decided to fight their way to Spain, with a number of the commandos seeking shelter in a nearby cellar, and waiting for night to return. Alas, this plan did not work. Soon, the cellar door was flung open and they were discovered by German troops armed with machine-guns and grenades. The mission was over. The British felt they had failed, since several hours had past after the schedule time for the explosive to have gone off and destroyed the gates, Despite the fact that Germans had begun to tour the ship — and had not realized that the ship was packed with explosives.mJust before midday, the massive bomb finally detonated, destroying then dock for the rest of the war.

The raid was a success but it came a high cost: nearly 170 British servicemen were killed. But the real threat to the British lifeline was the U-boats, not surface raiders. For the age of the battleship was over. German capital ships like the Bismarck, Graf Spee and Prinz Eugen were sunk when they ventured out — and the Tirpitz never ventured into the Atlantic, and was later sunk in a Norwegian fjord.

Interesting WWII history share sir.

Fantastic history post. Thank you.