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St Nazaire Raid

St Nazaire Raid
Operation Chariot
Part of the North West Europe Campaign of World War II
LoireAtlantique Arrondissement Color.svg
St Nazaire on the Loire estuary
Date 28 March 1942
Location St Nazaire, France 47°16′30″N 2°11′48″W / 47.27500°N 2.19667°W / 47.27500; -2.19667Coordinates: 47°16′30″N 2°11′48″W / 47.27500°N 2.19667°W / 47.27500; -2.19667
Result

British victory

  • All objectives achieved
  • All targets destroyed
Belligerents
 United Kingdom  Germany
Commanders and leaders
United Kingdom Robert Ryder
United Kingdom Augustus Charles Newman
Nazi Germany Karl-Konrad Mecke
Nazi Germany Edo Dieckmann
Nazi Germany Herbert Sohler
Nazi Germany Georg-Wilhelm Schulz
Units involved
Royal Navy
HMS Campbeltown
HMS Tynedale
HMS Atherstone
HMS Sturgeon
Motor Gun Boat 314
Motor Torpedo Boat 74
28th Motor Launch flotilla
7th Motor Launch flotilla
20th Motor Launch flotilla
British Army
No. 2 Commando
Selected troops from the Special Service Brigade
Royal Air Force
No. 51 Squadron RAF
No. 58 Squadron RAF
No. 77 Squadron RAF
No. 103 Squadron RAF
No. 150 Squadron RAF
German Navy
22nd Naval Flak Brigade
280th Naval Artillery Battalion
6th U-boat flotilla
7th U-boat flotilla
16th Minesweeper flotilla
42nd Minesweeper flotilla
Torpedo boat Jaguar
armed trawler
Sperrbrecher 137
Harbour Defence Companies
German Army
333rd Infantry Division
Strength
346 Royal Navy
265 Commandos
5,000 troops
Casualties and losses
HMS Campbeltown
169 dead *
215 prisoners of war *
1 Motor Gun Boat
1 Motor Torpedo Boat
13 Motor Launches
1 Armstrong Whitworth Whitley
1 Bristol Beaufighter
Normandie dock
360 dead ^
2 Junkers 88
2 Tankers
2 Tugs
* Does not include aircraft crews
^ Includes civilians on board HMS Campbeltown when she exploded. ^ The numbers of German troops killed during the raid are not known.

British victory

The St Nazaire Raid or Operation Chariot was a successful British amphibious attack on the heavily defended Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire in German-occupied France during the Second World War. 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 the Tirpitz, to return to home waters via either the English Channel or the GIUK gap, both of which were heavily defended by British units including the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, rather than having a haven available on the Atlantic coast.

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 for the remainder of the war and up to five years after.

A force of commandos landed to destroy machinery and other structures. Heavy German gunfire sank, set ablaze or immobilised virtually all the small craft intended to transport the commandos back to England; the commandos had to fight their way out through the town to try to escape overland. Almost all were forced to surrender when their ammunition was expended and they were surrounded.

After the raid 228 men of the force of 611 returned to Britain; 169 were killed and 215 became prisoners of war. German casualties were over 360 dead, some killed after the raid when Campbeltown exploded. To recognise their bravery, 89 decorations were awarded to members of the raiding party, including five Victoria Crosses. After the war, St Nazaire was one of 38 battle honours awarded to the Commandos; the operation has since become known as The Greatest Raid of All within military circles.


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