Urban Saboteur
06-14-2007, 05:40 PM
Ok, so I got thinking after I watched a documentary, it was presented by Jeremy Clarkson recently and was about The St. Nazaire Raid (also called Operation Chariot) Greatest Raid of All. Executed by British Royal Navy and Army Commando's in 1942.
The St.Nazaire Raid is was a successful British seaborne attack on the heavily defended docks of St. Nazaire in occupied France on the night of March 28, 1942 during World War II.
St.Nazaire
Several features of St. Nazaire made it worth attacking. The main target was the Forme Ecluse Louis Joubert, an enormous dry dock capable of holding the largest German Navy warships and the only dock of that size on the Atlantic coast. The dock had been built between 1928 and 1932 to accommodate the SS Normandie liner and is sometimes referred to as the Normandie Dock.
As well as the dock the harbour included a new submarine base being built by the Organisation Todt with fourteen enormous submarine pens.
The German defences at St. Nazaire were considered the second toughest in western France after those of Brest. Both sides of the estuary approach were fortified and were manned by 280 Naval Artillery Battalion and 22 Naval Flak Battalion. Fortified guns on the northern shore included four 150mm howitzers, four 170mm guns and four 75mm guns at Chémoulin, south-west of St. Nazaire and four 88mm guns and ten 20mm or 40mm guns at Villès Martin closer to St. Nazaire. Further away at La Baule were four 105mm guns and two 240 mm railway guns. Across the estuary from St Nazaire were four 75mm guns at St Gildas, another four at Le Pointeau and ten or so 20mm guns at Mindin. In the harbour area were around 30 single 20mm guns, two quad 20mm guns, around 15 40mm guns and a flakship, the Sperrbrecher 137 just off the new port. Heavy anti-aircraft defences were also in the town. Radar stations were operating at Le Croisic and at St Marc and all the German positions had searchlights. Around 1,000 troops manned these defences and there were a further 5,000 or so military personnel in the town. Excluding submarines the naval power in the town was limited to ten minesweepers, four small Hafenschutzboote and four torpedo boats.
The British plan
The Combined Operations scheme relied on surprise. A flotilla of shallow-draft boats would speed up the estuary while the German defences were distracted by an air-raid. A destroyer carrying tons of explosives hidden inside it would be rammed into the exposed caisson of the Normandie Dock. Commando raiding parties would then disembark from the destroyer and accompanying vessels to attack and destroy 24 targets in the dock area. The raiding force would then be withdrawn by sea from the edge of the harbour via the "Old Mole". Some hours later delayed-action fuses (a group of pencil detonators were used together in order to guarantee ignition) would trigger the massive explosive charge on the destroyer. Initially, the plan was to have one destroyer as the explosive ship and eight motor launches. The final plan involved the destroyer, sixteen motor launches, one Motor Gun Boat and one Motor Torpedo Boat.
The destroyer was HMS Campbeltown, an obsolete craft. She was previously the USS Buchanan of the United States Navy, transferred to Britain early in the war as part of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement. Campbeltown was given cosmetic modifications so that she would resemble a German Möwe class destroyer. This step of the operation had only 12 days, so changes made were minor, such as cutting the ship's funnels and chamfering the edges to create a more German destroyer look. Other changes included the removal of main guns and other excess weight to reduce her draught to the minimum. Armament was reduced to a single QF 12 pounder (76 mm) gun and eight 20 mm Oerlikon guns. The explosives were placed just behind 'A' gun position, consisting of 24 Mark VII depth charges enclosed in steel tanks and concrete. Each depth charge contained 132 kg of amatol, giving a total explosive charge weight of 3.17 metric tons.
The ship was to ram the caisson and then be scuttled to prevent her removal before she could explode. Campbeltown was commanded by Lieutenant-commander S. H. Beattie and the crew was reduced to 75.
The Motor Launches were Fairmile Marine Company Fairmile B craft, 112 feet (34 m) long and 19.5 feet (5.9 m) in beam. They were powered by two 650 bhp (480 kW) petrol engines. Built of mahogany they had very little armour and were vulnerable to fire and damage of the hydraulic steering system. They were armed with a 20 mm Oerlikon for air defence, four 0.303 inch (7.62 mm) Lewis guns and depth charges. With a normal crew of twelve, on Operation Chariot each carried fifteen commandos and extra fuel tanks.
The motor gun boat MGB 314 was added to act as a headquarters ship for the naval command. She was a Fairmile C type, slightly smaller than the 'B', but powered by three 850 hp (630 kW) engines, each driving a shaft and screw, capable of almost 30 knots (56 km/h). She was armed with one automatic QF 2 pounder (40 mm) forwards, one semi-automatic Rolls-Royce QF 2 pounder amidships and two 0.50 inch (12.7 mm) Vickers machine guns. She was also fitted with radar and an echo sounder.
The motor torpedo boat, MTB 74, was a special craft, a Vosper & Company motor-boat. She was modified to carry delayed-action torpedos weighing 2,200 lb (1,000 kg) each. The torpedo tubes were mounted high enough on the MTB to allow them to be fired over torpedo nets. The craft was also equipped with five Hotchkiss machine guns. With engines generating over 3,500 hp (2,600 kW) she was capable of almost 45 knots (83 km/h) but consumed so much fuel that she would have to be towed most of the way to the target. She and all the other motor boats were painted a special shade of purple, dubbed 'Plymouth Pink', designed to make them less conspicuous to searchlights.
The group was escorted most of the way to the target by two Hunt-class escort destroyers, HMS Atherstone and Tynedale.
The number of men employed in the attack was 611. The naval commander was R. E. D. Ryder and the Commandos were led by Lieutenant-Colonel A. C. Newman.
The attack
The diversionary bombing was desultory and did little except to alert the German forces that something odd was happening. Despite this the British ships got very close to the harbour without being fired on. The force was first noticed at 01:15 but searchlights did not go on until 01:22 when the force was little more than 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) from the harbour. The British flew the Kriegsmarine ensign and used a German morse call sign and gained almost five minutes of unimpeded progress. It was not until 01:28 with less than a mile to the harbour that the German guns opened fire and the White Ensign was hoisted. The Campbeltown drew most fire but despite a number of casualties struck the southern caisson at around 20 knots (37 km/h) at 01:34, jamming herself deep into the structure and crumpling almost 40 feet (12 m) of her hull. The delay fuses had been set shortly before the ship came under fire. The seven Commando teams then disembarked and made for their targets, destroying much of the equipment associated with the Normandie Dock and damaging the northern caisson. As these Commando groups withdrew and headed for the pier to embark they discovered how the remainder of the force was faring.
Aftermath
The Campbeltown charges were timed to go off at around 09.00 at the latest. A German search had not uncovered the explosive and the appointed time passed and it was not until 10.35 that the Campbeltown exploded, destroying the caisson and killing about 250 German soldiers and civilians in the vicinity. During the delay, senior German officers had arrived to inspect the damage. They were accompanied to the dock by two Commando officers who had been taken prisoner. They knew what was about to happen but remained silent and died in the explosion. The reason for this delay in detonation has not been resolved and never will be.
The explosive charges dropped by MTB 74 at the lock gates did not detonate until 30 March 1942, as expected. This late explosion shook the German garrison and led to a night of panic with German forces firing on French civilians and each other. Sixteen French civilians were killed and around thirty wounded. Later 1,500 civilians were arrested and taken to the camp at Savenay.
Despite the raid's very high casualties, it was a great success — the dock was severely damaged and rendered unusable until 1947.
As well as the VC for Sergeant Thomas Frank Durrant a further four VCs were awarded — to Lieutenant-Commander Stephen Halden Beattie, Lieutenant Colonel Augustus Charles Newman, Commander Robert Edward Dudley Ryder and Able Seaman William Alfred Savage.
The All British objectives were completed, all targets destroyed. Man those royal commando's kicked some major beehind.. :cool:
To read the full article (this has been edited.) check wikipedia here:
St.Nazaire Raid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Nazaire_Raid)
The St.Nazaire Raid is was a successful British seaborne attack on the heavily defended docks of St. Nazaire in occupied France on the night of March 28, 1942 during World War II.
St.Nazaire
Several features of St. Nazaire made it worth attacking. The main target was the Forme Ecluse Louis Joubert, an enormous dry dock capable of holding the largest German Navy warships and the only dock of that size on the Atlantic coast. The dock had been built between 1928 and 1932 to accommodate the SS Normandie liner and is sometimes referred to as the Normandie Dock.
As well as the dock the harbour included a new submarine base being built by the Organisation Todt with fourteen enormous submarine pens.
The German defences at St. Nazaire were considered the second toughest in western France after those of Brest. Both sides of the estuary approach were fortified and were manned by 280 Naval Artillery Battalion and 22 Naval Flak Battalion. Fortified guns on the northern shore included four 150mm howitzers, four 170mm guns and four 75mm guns at Chémoulin, south-west of St. Nazaire and four 88mm guns and ten 20mm or 40mm guns at Villès Martin closer to St. Nazaire. Further away at La Baule were four 105mm guns and two 240 mm railway guns. Across the estuary from St Nazaire were four 75mm guns at St Gildas, another four at Le Pointeau and ten or so 20mm guns at Mindin. In the harbour area were around 30 single 20mm guns, two quad 20mm guns, around 15 40mm guns and a flakship, the Sperrbrecher 137 just off the new port. Heavy anti-aircraft defences were also in the town. Radar stations were operating at Le Croisic and at St Marc and all the German positions had searchlights. Around 1,000 troops manned these defences and there were a further 5,000 or so military personnel in the town. Excluding submarines the naval power in the town was limited to ten minesweepers, four small Hafenschutzboote and four torpedo boats.
The British plan
The Combined Operations scheme relied on surprise. A flotilla of shallow-draft boats would speed up the estuary while the German defences were distracted by an air-raid. A destroyer carrying tons of explosives hidden inside it would be rammed into the exposed caisson of the Normandie Dock. Commando raiding parties would then disembark from the destroyer and accompanying vessels to attack and destroy 24 targets in the dock area. The raiding force would then be withdrawn by sea from the edge of the harbour via the "Old Mole". Some hours later delayed-action fuses (a group of pencil detonators were used together in order to guarantee ignition) would trigger the massive explosive charge on the destroyer. Initially, the plan was to have one destroyer as the explosive ship and eight motor launches. The final plan involved the destroyer, sixteen motor launches, one Motor Gun Boat and one Motor Torpedo Boat.
The destroyer was HMS Campbeltown, an obsolete craft. She was previously the USS Buchanan of the United States Navy, transferred to Britain early in the war as part of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement. Campbeltown was given cosmetic modifications so that she would resemble a German Möwe class destroyer. This step of the operation had only 12 days, so changes made were minor, such as cutting the ship's funnels and chamfering the edges to create a more German destroyer look. Other changes included the removal of main guns and other excess weight to reduce her draught to the minimum. Armament was reduced to a single QF 12 pounder (76 mm) gun and eight 20 mm Oerlikon guns. The explosives were placed just behind 'A' gun position, consisting of 24 Mark VII depth charges enclosed in steel tanks and concrete. Each depth charge contained 132 kg of amatol, giving a total explosive charge weight of 3.17 metric tons.
The ship was to ram the caisson and then be scuttled to prevent her removal before she could explode. Campbeltown was commanded by Lieutenant-commander S. H. Beattie and the crew was reduced to 75.
The Motor Launches were Fairmile Marine Company Fairmile B craft, 112 feet (34 m) long and 19.5 feet (5.9 m) in beam. They were powered by two 650 bhp (480 kW) petrol engines. Built of mahogany they had very little armour and were vulnerable to fire and damage of the hydraulic steering system. They were armed with a 20 mm Oerlikon for air defence, four 0.303 inch (7.62 mm) Lewis guns and depth charges. With a normal crew of twelve, on Operation Chariot each carried fifteen commandos and extra fuel tanks.
The motor gun boat MGB 314 was added to act as a headquarters ship for the naval command. She was a Fairmile C type, slightly smaller than the 'B', but powered by three 850 hp (630 kW) engines, each driving a shaft and screw, capable of almost 30 knots (56 km/h). She was armed with one automatic QF 2 pounder (40 mm) forwards, one semi-automatic Rolls-Royce QF 2 pounder amidships and two 0.50 inch (12.7 mm) Vickers machine guns. She was also fitted with radar and an echo sounder.
The motor torpedo boat, MTB 74, was a special craft, a Vosper & Company motor-boat. She was modified to carry delayed-action torpedos weighing 2,200 lb (1,000 kg) each. The torpedo tubes were mounted high enough on the MTB to allow them to be fired over torpedo nets. The craft was also equipped with five Hotchkiss machine guns. With engines generating over 3,500 hp (2,600 kW) she was capable of almost 45 knots (83 km/h) but consumed so much fuel that she would have to be towed most of the way to the target. She and all the other motor boats were painted a special shade of purple, dubbed 'Plymouth Pink', designed to make them less conspicuous to searchlights.
The group was escorted most of the way to the target by two Hunt-class escort destroyers, HMS Atherstone and Tynedale.
The number of men employed in the attack was 611. The naval commander was R. E. D. Ryder and the Commandos were led by Lieutenant-Colonel A. C. Newman.
The attack
The diversionary bombing was desultory and did little except to alert the German forces that something odd was happening. Despite this the British ships got very close to the harbour without being fired on. The force was first noticed at 01:15 but searchlights did not go on until 01:22 when the force was little more than 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) from the harbour. The British flew the Kriegsmarine ensign and used a German morse call sign and gained almost five minutes of unimpeded progress. It was not until 01:28 with less than a mile to the harbour that the German guns opened fire and the White Ensign was hoisted. The Campbeltown drew most fire but despite a number of casualties struck the southern caisson at around 20 knots (37 km/h) at 01:34, jamming herself deep into the structure and crumpling almost 40 feet (12 m) of her hull. The delay fuses had been set shortly before the ship came under fire. The seven Commando teams then disembarked and made for their targets, destroying much of the equipment associated with the Normandie Dock and damaging the northern caisson. As these Commando groups withdrew and headed for the pier to embark they discovered how the remainder of the force was faring.
Aftermath
The Campbeltown charges were timed to go off at around 09.00 at the latest. A German search had not uncovered the explosive and the appointed time passed and it was not until 10.35 that the Campbeltown exploded, destroying the caisson and killing about 250 German soldiers and civilians in the vicinity. During the delay, senior German officers had arrived to inspect the damage. They were accompanied to the dock by two Commando officers who had been taken prisoner. They knew what was about to happen but remained silent and died in the explosion. The reason for this delay in detonation has not been resolved and never will be.
The explosive charges dropped by MTB 74 at the lock gates did not detonate until 30 March 1942, as expected. This late explosion shook the German garrison and led to a night of panic with German forces firing on French civilians and each other. Sixteen French civilians were killed and around thirty wounded. Later 1,500 civilians were arrested and taken to the camp at Savenay.
Despite the raid's very high casualties, it was a great success — the dock was severely damaged and rendered unusable until 1947.
As well as the VC for Sergeant Thomas Frank Durrant a further four VCs were awarded — to Lieutenant-Commander Stephen Halden Beattie, Lieutenant Colonel Augustus Charles Newman, Commander Robert Edward Dudley Ryder and Able Seaman William Alfred Savage.
The All British objectives were completed, all targets destroyed. Man those royal commando's kicked some major beehind.. :cool:
To read the full article (this has been edited.) check wikipedia here:
St.Nazaire Raid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Nazaire_Raid)