Operation Chariot

The dry dock in the French city of st. Nazaire was the only one along the German occupied Atlantic coast, which was large enough to take the German battleship Tirpitz. If the allies could put it out of the game, Tirpitz would have to return the long way back to Germany for possible repairs.

That was the reason the allies in March 1942 performed a commando raid at the dock.

The plan was to sail an old english destroyer, HMS Cambeltown, directly into the dock and detonate an explosive device in the bow. The attack consist of 10 other vessels, besided the destroyer, and combined 661 commando soldiers. In order to distract the Germans there were simultaneously an airraid attack at the harbour.

The British naval vessels had hoisted the German war navy flag and managed by false Morse code to confuse the Germans. Only one mile from the harbor the germans opened fire and in the ensuing struggle, 8 of the smaller vessels where sunk. Cambeltown who had now hoist the British flag, continued at high speed towards the dock and at 01:34 it stuck in the heavy iron gates in the dock south end. Commando soldiers went ashore and began to destroy secondary objectives of port area. Germans who had come upstairs to surprise, went immediately to counterattack and fight waved the rest of the night on the entire port area.

To the morning were the last struggles ceased and back were dead and wounded on the quayside. The Germans went immediately started to investigate Cambeltown, but did not find any hidden explosive device. at 10:30 the Cambeltown exploded which instantly killed about 250 Germans and the dock was destroyed. The commando raid was an expensive purchase success for the British, 27 soldiers returned home, but the dock was useless the rest of the war.