- ST. NAZAIRE - OPERATION CHARIOT 28th MAR 1942 -

Based on an article by James Paul

Operation Chariot, the ramming of the main dock gate in the German occupied French port of St Nazaire, was an audacious plan with a high risk of casualties and capture. With tons of high explosive packed into the bows the crew and accompanying commandos ran the gauntlet of hostile fire from the shore when their attempts to conceal their vessel's identity were unmasked. The damage inflicted on the docks was never repaired by the Germans.

 ~ Background ~

In the second week of January 1942 the powerful German battleship Tirpitz moved from the Baltic through the Kiel canal and north to Trondheim on the Norwegian coast. There was a very real danger that it would break out into the North Atlantic and wreak havoc on allied Atlantic convoys. C in C Home Fleet, Admiral Tovey, held the view that to sink the Tirpitz would be "of incomparably greater importance to the conduct of the war than the safety of any convoy." Churchill shared this view commenting that "the entire naval situation throughout the world would be altered." 

Four separate attempts to bomb the Tirpitz failed with the loss of 12 aircraft. Clearly a different strategy was required. The Germans needed dry-dock facilities on the Atlantic coast before the battleship could be deployed effectively against allied convoys. The only port capable of handling it was St. Nazaire on the French coast. There were others world-wide in Germany, Genoa and Singapore but none of operational value to the Germans. St. Nazaire lay on the north bank of the River Loire about 6 miles from the river mouth which itself was about 6 miles wide.

From within the Planning Division in the Admiralty the idea emerged to destroy the lock gate at St Nazaire. It was picked up by Captain Charles Lambe (who became First Sea Lord from 1959 to 1960 when he died a few months after resigning on the grounds of ill-health). He took the idea to Mountbatten head of Combined Operations - the first outside client for COHQ.

The target area was sandwiched between the River Loire and the waters of the outer harbour and the Basin of St Nazaire - a total area of  less than one square mile. But it was arguably the most heavily defended area along the whole of the German occupied Atlantic coast. In this confined space there were power stations, pumping stations, warehouses, lock installations and the old town of St Nazaire. Denying the Germans use of the dry-dock would effectively neutralize the threat the Tirpitz posed... but how?

 ~ Planning & Preparation ~

The estuary was a complex mixture of mud flats and channels and for a frontal assault a shallow draught vessel running on a high tide would be required. Although heavily defended the German planners had not considered the possibility of an attack across the mud flats and shoals. Meticulous planning was undertaken including taking advice on the two important variables of tide and winds and studying French charts and tables up to 100 years old.

The outline plan was simple. The selected vessel, packed with high explosives in the bow, with troops and crew in protected areas, would ram the outer lock gate at speed and stick there. They would disembark and take cover behind a nearby air-raid shelter. The ship would then blow up destroying the gate. An MTB would then pass through and fire specially designed torpedoes at the inner gate which would collapse under pressure when the tide went out damaging the submarines berthed in their protected pens. The troops and crew would then destroy as many dockyard targets and withdraw in fast motor launches which had followed them in. All this was to be achieved under cover of an air raid.

The planners themselves had doubts about the withdrawal phase. There were likely to be unknown and variable factors that could not be planned for but the risks were less than the potential rewards. However, outside the planning circle there were those, notably the Naval C in C Plymouth, who thought the vessel would bounce off the gate. He held to his view even against the advice of the engineer who built it. He also thought that anyone within half a mile of the explosion would be killed.

Mountbatten conceded the point about the destructive power of the explosion and delayed action fuses were to be fitted to allow time for the troops and crew to evacuate the area. However on the question of the use of a boat to ram the lock gate he held firm. A further concession was to spread the raiding force between the main ship and the supporting motor launches simply to avoid total loss of the force in the event of disaster befalling the main ship.

The raid was to be led by HMS Campbeltown, an American lend-lease destroyer (USS Buchanan). It was especially refitted for the task. Her interior was stripped, the bridge armour-plated, and additional protection provided for the Commandos she would carry. The accompanying motor launches (MLs) were tocarry 150 Commandos. The boats were fitted with two Oerlikon 20mm guns and additional fuel tanks to increase their range. As the needs of the raid were reassessed, the ML fleet was firstly increased to ten and then to 14. Only one motor gun boat (MGB) was available - MGB 314, a C-Class Fairmile, commanded by Lt. Dunstan Curtis. She would lead the attack and in reserve there would be motor torpedo boat (MTB) 74. This was equipped with unproven flying torpedoes to breach the dry dock gates if the Campbeltown failed to reach the target.

 ~ Action ~

The fleet sailed from Falmouth at 3 pm on the 26th of March with MGB 314 at the head and two escort destroyers flanking the MLs and HMS Campbeltown. South west of Ushant they came across a U-Boat and damaged it. They left the area of action on a false course which the submarine duly reported to their command and control HQ. Five German torpedo boats were sent from St Nazaire to engage the vessels but in entirely the wrong direction. They were still at sea during the period of the raid. Around midnight on the 26th/27th March the raiders saw bomb flashes and tracers light the sky. The diversionary bombing air raid had started but low cloud rendered it inaccurate which caused an alert in the town and its approaches rather than the intended effect of keeping the German forces in their bunkers. The bombers had been briefed to target only specific military installations to avoid civilian casualties. Those who failed to acquire their targets did not drop their bombs. 

Each boat flew the German flag to confuse the enemy and delay identification. HMS Sturgeon, a submarine, provided the exact position for the task force from which to make its run into the estuary. The Campbeltown crept through at 5 knots, touching bottom twice. At 0120 hours search lights illuminated the entire fleet but, for a short time, the Germans were reluctant to open fire possibly because of confusion caused by spoof signals and a general disbelief amongst and the Germans that such an audacious raid could be undertaken. The German flags were replaced with the White Ensign when the fleet was still two miles from its target. The Germans opened fire during the final 15 minutes of the run in during which half the men aboard the MLs were either killed or wounded from the intense shelling. 

The Campbeltown cleared the estuary and increased speed to drive her bows through the torpedo barrier and into the dock gate. The MLs were all but stopped only two succeeded in landing their full complement of Commandos. Other MLs approached the landing zones but were forced to re-embark their Commandos in the face of very heavy fire from 20mm cannons. On shore fighting was ferocious and close quartered. At 0134 hours Campbeltown was successfully driven at speed into the dock gates just 4 minutes behind schedule and was relieved of most of her crew by MGB 314 while MTB 74 deployed her delayed action torpedoes in the foundations of the old entrance dock gate. 

Captain Ryder, CO of the Naval forces, went ashore and satisfied himself that Campbeltown was both scuttled and embedded in the loch gate.  At 0230 hours Ryder decided to withdraw. By this time more than half of his craft had been destroyed and the remainder were riddled.... if he didn't withdraw soon he would lose them all. The MTB then left for her rendezvous with British destroyers in the open sea off the Loire with 26 men on board accompanied by 7 other craft.. It stopped to pick up two more survivors but was hit by accurate shelling from the shore batteries. Only three of the 34 aboard survived. On the way they met the 5 German torpedo boats returning from their fruitless mission. In further enemy fire more craft were destroyed or scuttled and their crews transferred to the remaining craft. Of the 18 coastal craft which set out from Falmouth only four returned. [Photos below taken in 2005 by Graham Francis. They show major landmarks largely unchanged since 1942.]

South loch gate showing the final stage of HMS Campbeltown's one way journey.	South loch gate where HMS  Campbeltown's bow was lodged.	View of south loch gate from the north gate... the space denied to the Tirpitz.	The approaches to the old entrance to the Basin of St Nazaire. It is quite narrow and not very long.	The south side of the old entrance where Commando units disembarked.	The old entrance loch gates which were torpedoed in the action.
Beyond the old entrance loch gates is the swing bridge over which the Commandos from the Campbeltown retreated.	The steps on the south side of the approaches to the old entrance used by the Commandos as a drop off point. The heavily defended submarine pens are in the background.	The submarine pens from where the Commandos came under heavy enemy fire.	The 'Bridge of memories' over which the Commandos attempted to escape. View looking back towards the old town and the area north of the Mole.	The Old Mole... scene of much bloody fighting.	The Old Mole lighthouse.

 ~ Outcome ~

The delayed action fuses detonated the high explosives in the Campbeltown's hold at noon on the 28th. Forty German officers were aboard at the time and 400 other ranks were nearby on the quay. All were killed in the blast. The dock gates were destroyed and were not repaired until after the war. On the evening of the 29th the delayed torpedoes were activated causing further damage and German casualties. Regrettably many needless French casualties were caused by jittery German soldiers who believed that the raiders were still in their midst.

Of the 241 Commandos who took part 59 were posted as killed or missing and 109 captured. 85 Royal Navy personnel were killed or missing and a further 20+ captured. Many others were wounded. 5 other ranks returned to England via Spain. The Tirptitz was never able to leave Norwegian waters for want of a safe haven on the Atlantic coast. The value of the shipping saved in terms of men, armaments and food, can only be guessed at but it was very significant contribution to the Allied cause.

The air raid had hindered rather than helped the amphibious raid on St Nazaire.  The experience had regrettable consequences 5 months later when a planned bombing raid at Dieppe was dispensed with.

 ~ Awards gained during the raid ~

VCs

Captain Robert Edward Dudley Ryder, RN.
For great gallantry in the attack on St. Nazaire. He commanded a force of small unprotected ships in an attack on a heavily defended port and led HMS Campbeltown in under intense fire from short range weapons at point blank range. Though the main object of the expedition had been accomplished in the beaching of Campbeltown, he remained on the spot conducting operations, evacuating men from Campbeltown and dealing with strong points and close range weapons while exposed to heavy fire for one hour and sixteen minutes, and did not withdraw till it was certain that his ship could be of no use in rescuing any of the Commando Troops who were still ashore. That his motor boat, now full of dead and wounded, should have survived and should have been able to withdraw through an intense barrage of close range fire was almost a miracle.

Lieutenant-Commander Stephen Halden Beattie, RN, HMS Campbeltown.
For great gallantry and determination in the attack on St. Nazaire in command of HMS Campbeltown. Under intense fire directed at the bridge from point blank range of about 100 yards, and in the face of the blinding glare of many searchlights, he steamed her into the lock gates and beached and scuttled her in the correct position. This Victoria Cross is awarded to Lieutenant-Commander Beattie in recognition not only of his own valour but also of that of the unnamed officers and men of a very gallant ship's company, many of whom have not returned.

Able Seaman William Alfred Savage, RN.
For great gallantry, skill and devotion to duty as gun-layer of the pom-pom in a motor gun-boat in the St. Nazaire raid. Completely exposed, and under heavy fire he engaged positions ashore with cool and steady accuracy. On the way out of the harbour he kept up the same vigorous and accurate fire against the attacking ships, until he was killed at his gun. This Victoria Cross is awarded in recognition not only of the gallantry and devotion to duty of Able Seaman Savage, but also of the valour shown by many others, unnamed, in Motor Launches, Motor Gun Boats and Motor Torpedo Boats, who gallantly carried out their duty in entirely exposed positions against enemy fire at very close range.

Sergeant Thomas Frank Durrant, RE
Sergeant Durrant, attached to No.1 Commando, was in the Royal Engineers. On 27th March 1942 at St Nazaire he was in charge of a Lewis gun on HM Motor Launch 306 which came under heavy fire during the raid, and although he had no protection and was wounded in several places he continued to fire until the launch was boarded and the survivors were taken prisoner. He died of his wounds the next day. [Photo courtesy of Graham Francis.]

Lieutenant Colonel Augustus Charles Newman
The Essex Regiment was attached to No.2 Commando. During the St Nazaire raid on 27th March 1942, Lieutenant-Colonel Newman was in charge of the military forces and was one of the first ashore, leading his men and directing operations without regard for his own safety. The troops fought well under his command and held superior numbers of the enemy at bay until the demolition parties had done their jobs. Newman then attempted to fight through into open country and did not surrender until all the ammunition was exhausted when he was then taken prisoner.

Other awards granted after the St. Nazaire Raid were: 4 DSO; 17 DSC; 11 MC; 4 CGM; 5 DCM; 24 DSM and 15 MM. Another 51 men were mentioned in dispatches, 22 of them posthumously. For full list of awards visit St Nazaire Society awards page.

 ~ Summary of Action ~

Allied Forces: Sea - HMS Campbeltown, MTBs, MGBs & 8 MLs; Land - Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, & 12 Commando.

Axis Forces: Sea - Shore defence batteries; Land - Shore defence units.

Outcome (positive) - Dry dock facility at St Nazaire disabled for the remainder of the war.

Outcome (negative) - Heavy losses - see text.

 ~ Memorial ~

 ~ Further Reading ~

St Nazaire Society website gives a comprehensive account of the raid including many photographs of the ships and men.

The Greatest Raid Of All - C.E.Lucas Phillips, Pan Books ISBN 0-330-48070-7.

Saint-Nazaire. Operation Chariot - 1942 written by James G Dorrian and published in 2006 by Pen and Sword as part of their 'Battleground' series. It is designed for both 'armchair visitors' and for those who intend to visit the port.

The guide is highly illustrated, with 224 pages, 20 maps and drawings and more than 150 photographs. Dimensions - 8 1/2 " by 5  1/4".  Softback so it will slip into a pocket or purse. ISBN 1844153347 - cover price £12.99 but can be found at £9.99.
 

Storming St Nazaire - The Dock Busting Raid by James G Dorrian. Published 1998 and more recently in paperback by Leo Cooper (an imprint of Pen & Sword Books). 304 pages £14.95. ISBN 08052 807 0.

Commandos and Rangers of World War 2 by James D. Ladd. Published in 1978 by MacDonald & Jane's. ISBN 0 356 08432 9.

Commandos 1940 - 1946 by Charles Messenger. Pub. by William Kimber, London 1985. ISBN 0 7183 0553 1.

The Watery Maze by Bernard Fergusson published 1961 by Collins.

Please let us know if you have any information or book recommendations to add to this page.

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