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Operation Chariot has been considered the most significant raid in British military
history.
The amphibious attack had little chance of success.
Still, the British Commandos assigned to the mission were confident in their abilities.
The objective was to destroy the heavily defended dry dock of St. Nazaire in Northern France.
600 commandos, accompanied by a modified WWI destroyer, that resembled a German vessel,
made their way to the dock with a secret meticulously hidden from German eyes.
215 raiders would be captured, and the mission seemed like a failure...
But little did the Germans know that HMS Campbeltown was stuffed with tons of explosives, timed
to go off only several hours later…
Just days before the St. Nazaire Raid, the Germans ordered the construction of the Atlantic
Wall - resulting in a little known supergun standoff across the English Channel.
Learn more about how Germany and Britain faced off with some of WWII’s largest weapons
in the MagellanTV documentary “Superguns of WWII.”
Watch today, and see how some of the biggest guns of WWII turned the strait into what ships
called “Hellfire Corner.”
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The Battle of the Atlantic
Ever since the German battleship Tirpitz left port for the first time in 1942, The Royal
Navy and the Royal Airforce began creating plans to sink her.
If they didn’t, their naval blockade in the Baltic would be useless.
Even Churchill said, (QUOTE): “The whole strategy of the war turns at this period on
this ship.”
The Admiralty concluded from the battle of Denmark that the only non-German port able
to accommodate the Tirpitz for repairs would be the French port of St. Nazaire - which
was created for the Normandie, a gigantic passenger ship from the 30s.
St. Nazaire dock was of strategic importance to the Kriegsmarine for two reasons.
First: the port was able to provide shelter for U boats.
Most of these silent hunters of the Atlantic that frequently sent tons of Allied supplies
to the bottom of the ocean were repaired at St. Nazaire.
Second: as the British estimated, the only dock outside of Germany able to accommodate
the Tirpitz was St. Nazaire.
As long as the small coastal city remained in Axis control, the Tirpitz was safe from
crossing the English Channel, searching for a German dock that could repair it.
If the British could destroy the dock, the Tirpitz, alongside the U-boats, would stop
sinking US convoys sent to England, ensuring the commercial routes’ safety.
If they succeeded, the Kriegsmarine would lose its foothold in France, retreating to
the Baltic Sea, where the blockade would make sure they no longer threatened operations
in the Atlantic.
Operation Chariot
With that in mind, Combined Operations Headquarters began planning the operation.
The first idea was a bombing raid.
Royal Air Force bombers could target the locations of bunkers, AA Artillery, barracks, and other
objectives.
But the option was ditched due to the strong defensive position of German anti-aircraft
guns and the possibility of killing civilians in the area.
The French Allies would not consent to that.
The second idea was a naval operation, which favored the Royal Navy for their superior
numbers of ships.
But this too was dismissed because the Loire estuary was just 5 km from St Nazaire port.
Any ship with the required range to hit precisely would need to get close, and the estuary would
impede its movement.
Only lighter vessels, with inferior firepower, could carry the attack.
The third option was to conduct an airborne operation.
It could have worked, but it was rejected for the enormous amount of explosives the
soldiers would have to carry to destroy the dock gates.
The final and most desperate option was using a Commando force of no more than 600 men.
They would infiltrate the dock by force with a destroyer full of timed explosives.
It was suicidal, reckless, almost impossible, but no more ideas were on the table.
This plan required two specially lightened destroyers to carry out the raid.
The first would be secretly stuffed with hidden bombs and rammed into the dock gates.
Commandos on board would then use demolition charges to destroy key objectives.
The explosives on the destroyer w ould be timed to explode once the commandos were evacuated
by a second ship.
When presented to the Admiralty, the op was refused.
It was risky and expensive.
With the Germans still capable of winning the sea-fight, the Royal Navy could not afford
to lose two destroyers.
Besides, the odds of survival for the commandos were minimal.
The path that led to the estuary’s mouth was surrounded by concrete bunkers full of
MG42 emplacements and artillery.
If they did manage to break in, the breakout would be extremely risky, for the British
Commandos would have to follow the same route out to make it back to safety.
By then, the Germans would be fully aware of their presence.
Nonetheless, given the circumstances, the mission was approved on March 3rd, 1942, under
the codename Operation Chariot - evoking the image of a Trojan horse.
The raid’s purpose was to destroy all of the following: the Normandie dock, the old
gates into St Nazaire, the water pumping machinery, and any U-boats or vessels in the area.
In the final revised Combined Operations plan, the first destroyer’s objective was to ram
the two dock gates and make its way to the harbor - where it would detonate with the
explosives.
The other vessel was the escape route for the commandos.
12 dater motor launches, mostly unarmored but equipped with Lewis machine guns and Oerlikon
20 mm guns, were assigned to transport the Commandos to their various targets.
The other 4 motor launches accompanied them; they would distract the German MG emplacements
with their torpedoes.
The support group was composed of the HMS Tynedale and Atherstone.
A motor torpedo boat would be used to destroy the external dock gates.
If they were open at the moment of the raid, it would have to target the inner gates.
The HMS Campbeltown
The destroyer selected to house the explosives was the HMS Campbeltown, an old vessel from
the Great War that belonged to the US Navy.
To ensure that the Campbeltown could get over the sandbanks in the estuary, some modifications
were necessary.
It was stripped of all its internal components to lighten it and raise its draught.
Additionally, its antique armament, composed of three 100 mm guns and depth charges, was
replaced by a forward gun with a light, quick-firing, 12 pounder, and eight 20 mm Oerlikons.
Extra armor plates were added to the bridge, wheelhouse, and the sides of the ship.
To make the old ship resemble a German destroyer, two of the funnels were removed, and the two
that remained were cut at an angle.
The 5.5 tons of explosives were placed on the ship’s bow.
Pencil-fuses were set on time delays once the Commandos had left the harbor.
In case the Germans noticed what was going on inside the ship and tried to tow it out
of port, the commandos would open the seacock valves to flood the vessel before leaving.
The commander of the operation was Lt. Col. Charles Newman.
He decided to divide the Commandos into 3 groups.
Led by Captain Hodgeson, Group One and Two would make the assault onboard the motor launches,
with the Third Group defending the Campbeltown.
On March 26th, 1942, the raiding force was ready to abandon Falmouth harbor.
Before leaving, Vice Adm. Louis Mountbatten, Chief of Combined Operations, said to Newman
and the Commandos, (QUOTE):
“I’m confident that you can get in and do the job, but we cannot hold out much hope
of you getting out again.
Even if you are all lost, the results of the operation will have been worth it.
For that reason, I want to tell you to tell all the men who have family responsibilities
or who think they should stand down for any reason that they are free to do so.
Nobody will think any worse of them.”
None of the men backed out.
They were ready to embrace death.
The Raid
Accompanied by the HMS Atherstone, Tynedale, and the motor launches, the Campbeltown made
its way to St. Nazaire.
At night, they hoisted German flags.
The crew of the ship wore Navy apparel to deceive any German aircraft or U-boats nearby.
At 23:00 hours on March 27th, the raiding fleet spotted St. Nazaire in the dark horizon,
and five RAF squadrons initiated a diversionary bombing run.
They had instructions only to drop a few bombs at a time to prevent any French casualties.
This peculiarity was noted by the German defenders, who were put on alert for a possible airborne
assault.
Simultaneously, as the RAF launched the false raid, Lt. Tibbets set the fuses of the Campbeltown.
The charges would go off between 05:00 and 09:00 AM.
The small fleet was halted at 01:22 AM when searchlights from both sides of the dock signaled
the Campbeltown to stop.
A British signal officer disguised in a German uniform replied.
He used a stolen code from a captured signal book.
After moments of tension, they advanced through the dock.
Minutes later, hell broke loose.
The Germans identified the Commandos and began shooting directly at the destroyer.
The attack had begun.
Trying to avoid as much fire as possible, some English soldiers managed to hit some
searchlights to hide the hidden commandos making their way to their objectives.
With fire coming at them from all sides and blinded by other searchlights, the trojan
horse made its way to the inner dock.
As the ship rammed into the dock, Group Three of the Commandos stormed the shore, sprinting
to their objectives.
The Commandos from Group One and Two did the same.
After some fierce resistance, the pumping station, fuel storage tanks, and gun emplacements
were destroyed.
At 02:30 AM, when the objectives were accomplished, the three Commando groups reunited at the
Old Mole’s rendezvous point.
Only then did they realize how grim a situation they were facing.
Most of the motor launches had been destroyed by the German fire.
Newman, keeping the morale up, told his men, (QUOTE): “Well chaps, we’ve missed the
boat.
We will just have to walk home.”
They had to fight their way out on foot.
Newman told them they could make it by linking up with French resistance fighters and crossing
the border to neutral Spain.
When the fighting was over, the remaining commandos were rounded up and interrogated.
They thought the Germans must have defused the charge because the HMS Campbeltown trap,
one of their main objectives, had not exploded.
It was past 7:00 AM, and nothing had happened.
Sam Beattie, one of the surviving commandos, was being interrogated by German officers
that were telling him that their attack had ended in failure.
Suddenly, the HMS Campbeltown went up, taking out more than 60 German soldiers inspecting
the ship.
The commando grinned and told one of the officers, (QUOTE): “We’re not quite as foolish as
you think!”
The entire operation saw 169 casualties, 215 soldiers captured as POWs, and only 228 soldiers
returned to Britain.
Their sacrifice was not in vain.
The port of St. Nazaire would remain inoperable until 1949, three years after the war had
ended.