Operation Chariot
USS Buchanan / HMS Campbeltown
| date | March 28, 1942 |
|---|---|
| place | St. Nazaire , France |
| output | British victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Augustus Charles Newman |
Adalbert Zuckschwerdt |
| Troop strength | |
| Command units units of the Royal Navy |
Marine Flak Regiment 22, 280th Marine Artillery Battalion, various guns and gun positions, 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla |
| losses | |
|
169 dead, |
42 dead, |
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The operation Chariot was a British attack during the Second World War in the night on March 28, 1942, the port of Saint-Nazaire in the German Wehrmacht occupied France. The operation was carried out by the Royal Navy and British commandos .
The British Admiralty feared that the largest battleship in the Navy - the Tirpitz - would be used in the Atlantic. Essential for such an operation was the ability to be able to repair the ship in a dry dock on the Atlantic in the event of damage , since returning to Germany through the English Channel would have been associated with great risks. Only the Normandie Dock (French name Forme-écluse Joubert, Cale Normandie ) in the port of Saint-Nazaire had sufficient dimensions for work on a ship of this size (draft max. 9.9 m, LüA 251 m) . It was therefore supposed to be destroyed by a commando company so that a mission of the Tirpitz in the Atlantic would be subject to a significantly higher risk or would be completely impossible. Since the Tirpitz was never used in the Atlantic, it can be speculated whether the success of the Chariot company actually prevented or at least contributed to its use.
background
The port of St. Nazaire
The dock was built from 1929 to 1933 in order to be able to build the large express steamer Normandie ; it is therefore also called the Normandy Dock . It is 350 m long, 50 m wide and lies between the harbor basin of the Chantiers de Penhoët shipyard and the Loire estuary. The dock's lock gates were built in a caisson-and-camber style, each made of hollow steel sections 51 m long and 11 m wide.
In the harbor there is also a submarine bunker with a total of 14 boxes, which was built by the Todt Organization from January 1941 . It has two entrances to the sea: one in the east near the Normandy dock (old entrance) and one in the south, which leads into the avant-port (outer harbor - laid out in 1907).
Situation of the Germans
The German defense in St. Nazaire was considered to be the second strongest in western France after Brest . Both sides of the river mouth were fortified and manned by the 280th Marine Artillery Battalion (under Edo Dieckmann) and three divisions of the 22nd Marine Flak Regiment (under Captain Karl-Conrad Mecke ). Both were under the command of the Loire Naval Defense Adalbert Zuckschwerdt . Fortified gun emplacements on the northern coast included four 6-inch howitzers , four 7-inch guns, and four 7.5-inch guns at Chémoulin, southwest of St. Nazaire, and four 8.8-inch guns and ten 20- mm or 40 mm anti-aircraft guns at Ville-ès-Martin, closer to St. Nazaire. Further west, at La Baule, were four 105 mm guns and two 240 mm railway guns . Across the mouth of the Loire River were distributed: four 7.5 cm guns at St. Gilda, another four at Le Pointeau and about ten 20 mm anti-aircraft guns at Mindin. In the immediate port area there were about 30 individual 20-mm anti-aircraft cannons, two 20-mm quadruple anti-aircraft guns, about 15 40-mm anti-aircraft guns and one flak ship , the Sperrbrecher 137 outside the new port. There were also heavy anti-aircraft positions in the city. There were radar stations at Le Croisic and St. Marc , and all German positions had searchlights . About 1000 men occupied these defensive positions and there were about 5000 other soldiers in the city. Excluding submarines, the sea power in the city comprised ten minesweepers, four small so-called "harbor protection boats " and four torpedo boats .
The British plan or the situation of the British
The British plan of attack relied largely on the element of surprise. A flotilla of shallow- draft ships was to go up the Loire estuary while the German air raid defense was to be employed. The HMS Campbeltown , a Town-class destroyer (see also: Destroyers for Bases Agreement ), was supposed to ram the dry dock laden with explosives. The commando units should leave the destroyer and other ships and destroy 24 different targets, then go back to the ships at the old pier and leave St. Nazaire. The HMS Campbeltown was supposed to explode a few hours later and destroy the dry dock. Originally the destroyer and eight motor launch were planned for the operation; However, the destroyer, sixteen motor launch, a motor gunboat and a motor torpedo boat were used .
A total of 611 soldiers were to be used in the operation. Cmdr was in command of the sea units. Robert Edward Dudley Ryder , who was in command of Lt. Col. Augustus Charles Newman . The commando units were divided into three groups, one of which was shipped on the Campbeltown , the other on the motor launch. Each command group was divided into demolition squads and protection squads . The demolition squads were supposed to destroy the facilities and therefore had explosives, axes and sledge hammers with them, the protection squads were supposed to protect the demolition squads and were armed with hand grenades and submachine guns.
The air strike was to be carried out by 35 Whitley and 25 Vickers Wellington bombers. However, these numbers were greatly reduced because the machines were needed elsewhere, and Churchill wanted to keep the French losses in the operation low.
British ships
HMS Campbeltown , an obsolete destroyer that had been transferred from the United States to Great Britain , was chosen as the carrier of the explosive charge . The Campbeltown was modified so that they a German torpedo boat of the Gull class was similar. The draft of the ship was reduced by removing all unnecessary weight components so that the shallow waters off St. Nazaire could be passed. Furthermore, the crew was reduced to a minimum of 75 men. The only weapons available were a 12-pounder gun and eight 20-mm rapid-fire cannons . Behind the main gun, 24 depth charges enclosed in steel and concrete were placed (together almost 4.1 tons of Amatol explosives), which were supposed to be activated by several chemical time fuses ( pencil fuses ).
The used motor gunboat was MGB 314 (MGB = Engl. Motor Gun Boat act), it should at the same time as a flagship for the attack. In addition to its offensive armament , MGB 314 was equipped with radar and sonar .
The motor torpedo boat was MTB 74 (MTB = Motor Torpedo Boat ), a ship from the Vosper shipyard. It was equipped with 1000 kg explosive charges with delay fuses. Like the other small boats, it has been painted Plymouth Pink , a purple paint job, to reduce the risk of searchlight detection.
The wooden motor launch took 15 commandos and extra fuel.
The entire group was almost to the goal of two escort destroyers of the Hunt class , HMS Atherstone and HMS Tynedale be escorted.
The HMS Campbeltown had been handed over by the US to the UK before the lending and leasing law was passed.
The actual operation
The way there
The fleet association ran out of the British port of Falmouth on March 26, 1942 . The route ran first southeast and then south, with the ships forming an arrow formation to look like submarine hunters . On March 27, there was a brief incident involving a German submarine ; the ships were able to continue on their way undetected. On the morning of the 27th they changed their course to the east, and in the evening to head north-east to St. Nazaire . Once there, the formation was changed. The motor launch drove in two rows behind one another, between the rows of HMS Campbeltown . MGB 314 drove ahead as the lead ship. Thanks to the reduced draft, the ships were able to bypass the main entry line to the port and approached further west via the shallows.
The attack
The previous diversionary attack by the bombers had proceeded haphazardly and had only made the German defenders vigilant. Nevertheless, the British ships were able to get relatively close to the port without being detected. On March 28, the association was first sighted at 1:15 a.m. At this time, the ships were about 1.5 nm (2.8 km) from the target. Using a forged German Morse code, the fleet gained another five minutes. At 1:28 a.m. and about 1.5 km from the target, the defense opened fire. Most of it focused on the destroyer Campbeltown. Regardless of this, the ship rammed the southern lock gate at 01:34 at a speed of around 20 kn . Seven command teams left the ship and were able to destroy most of their targets; the northern lock gate was also damaged.
The other ships were far less successful. Four minutes after the pile-driving, eight motor launchers had already been destroyed. Due to their wooden design, a few hits were enough to put them out of action. The crew had no choice but to escape into the water or in rubber boats. Most drowned or burned in the fire of the spilled fuel. The losses of these eight boats amounted to about 80% of the crew. Hardly a soldier was injured on the other boats either. Blinded by the searchlights, some boats drove over the harbor entrance and had to turn around in heavy defensive fire in order to issue their commands. MTB 74 initially survived the attack, was able to fire its special torpedoes at the lock of the old port entrance and then retreat, but was then destroyed in the port area when it stopped to pick up crews of other boats floating in the water. Other motor launch took other injured people and also fled. Only a few of the commandos that landed managed to re-embark; no one reached the agreed meeting point at the old pier. MGB 314 was the last boat to leave the port.
Again on the sea
The remaining ships ran to a gathering point about 25 nm off St. Nazaire, where they were supposed to meet with the destroyer escort. On their way there, they were shot at by larger guns with longer range. One of the launches and MTB 74 were hit and sank. Since both ships had taken in many wounded and the crew of Campbeltown, the destruction of the two boats caused over half of the total losses of the operation among the seamen. Another launch was intercepted by the German torpedo boat Jaguar at around 05:30 . Whose commander who wanted to launch hijack and therefore renounced the use of its main weapons. After more than an hour of fighting , the British had to capitulate.
Only four British boats made it to the assembly point, two of which were still abandoned there. The other two were also left behind after air raids on the unit. Three launches that had missed the assembly point returned to Falmouth on their own.
The fighting on the docks
The commandos that remained in the dock were attacked by German raiding troops who broke into the dock at around 2 a.m. After the boats escaped, the German gunfire was concentrated on the dock. The British holed up in warehouses and left their position around 3:00 a.m. to retreat first to downtown St. Nazaire and later to the countryside. They reached the Place de la vielle Ville , but about 75% of the survivors were wounded. At this time the German troops were reinforced by regular Wehrmacht units of the 679 motorized infantry regiment. The English then had to dodge south and seek cover in the city. The Germans surrounded the city, erected roadblocks and combed house by house.
By 10:00 a.m. almost all of the commandos had been captured or fallen. In La Baule , the nearly 200 survivors were collected and distributed in a POW camp. Five British soldiers fought their way to Gibraltar . The losses amounted to 169 dead among the British soldiers and 42 dead and 127 wounded among the Germans.
Five Victoria Crosses were awarded for the mission : to commanders Newman and Ryder, Sgt. Thomas Frank Durrant (posthumously for the battle with the Jaguar ), the seaman William Alfred Savage (posthumously for his use as a shooter on MGB 314 ) and Stephen Halden Beattie, the commanding officer of HMS Campbeltown .
Campbeltown explosion
The explosive charges in Campbeltown were supposed to explode around 9:00 a.m. Although the Germans searched the ship's wreck, the explosives were not found. Contrary to the plan, the ship did not explode until 10:35 a.m. and killed 250 soldiers and civilians.
The special torpedoes from MTB 74 did not explode until March 30, as planned. The detonation panicked the German garrison and a shootout broke out between German soldiers and French civilians, in the course of which 16 civilians were killed and another 30 wounded.
Effects
The attack had the hoped-for effect for the British: The dry dock was destroyed and could only be repaired ten years later. In addition to the five Britons who were awarded the Victoria Cross, over 80 other awards for bravery received. The attack is considered "The Greatest Raid of All" by British commandos. The survivors called themselves "Charioteers" after the name of the operation.
In memory of this there is a small memorial stone at "Fish Strand Quay" in Falmouth , Cornwall. The inscription with the heading "OPERATION CHARIOT" reads:
FROM THIS HARBOR 622 SAILORS
AND COMMANDOS SET SAIL FOR
THE SUCCESSFUL RAID ON ST. NAZAIRE
28 TH MARCH 1942
168 WERE KILLED
5 VICTORIA CROSSES WERE AWARDED
———— · ————
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
THEIR COMRADES BY
THE ST. NAZAIRE SOCIETY
Movies
The St Nazaire Raid served as a historical foundation of the war film storming of the iron coast (OT: Attack on the Iron Coast ) from 1968. It was directed by the American Paul Wendkos .
In 2013 the film Operation Chariot was produced; it is part 6 of the series WW2's greatest raids (season 1).
literature
- Robert E. Ryder: The Attack on St. Nazaire. 28th March, 1942. John Murray, London 1947.
- Cecil E. Phillips: The Greatest Raid of All. Heinemann, London a. a. 1958.
- Wilhelm Wolfslast : The coup d'état on Saint-Nazaire. British destroyer "Campbeltown". (Anchor booklets, 95). Arthur Moewig Verlag, Munich 1960, OCLC 256140264 .
- Stuart Chant-Sempill: St Nazaire Commando. John Murray, London 1985, ISBN 0-7195-4211-1 .
- David Mason: Raid on St. Nazaire. (Ballantine's illustrated history of World War II. - Battle book, 14). Ballantine Books, New York NY 1970, ISBN 0-345-01964-4 .
- John Wingate: HMS Campbeltown (USS Buchanan). Flush Decker Destroyer ('4-stacker'). 1918-1942. ( Warship Profile 5). Profile Publications, Windsor 1971, OCLC 70688716 .
- Jocelyn Gille, Jean P. Lucas: Objectif Saint-Nazaire. 28 mars 1942. Presse Océan, Nantes 1990, ISBN 2-908998-00-9 .
- Al Ross: The Destroyer Campbeltown. (Anatomy of the Ship). Conway Maritime Press, London 1990, ISBN 0-85177-543-8 .
- Janusz Piekałkiewicz (Ed.): Spies agents soldiers. Secret commands in World War II. 3rd edition of the revised new edition. Herbig, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-7766-1527-3 .
- Corran Purdon: List the Bugle. Reminiscences of an Irish Soldier. Greystone Books, Antrim 1993, ISBN 1-870157-19-2 .
- Daniel Sicard: Saint-Nazaire. 1939-1945. La Guerre, l'Occupation, la Liberation. Editions Ouest-France, Rennes 1994, ISBN 2-7373-1526-3 .
- Duncan Harding: Assault on St. Nazaire. Severn House, Sutton 1997, ISBN 0-7278-5129-2 .
- James G. Dorrian: Storming St. Nazaire. The Gripping Story of the dock-busting Raid, March, 1942. Leo Cooper, London 1998, ISBN 0-85052-419-9 .
- Ken Ford: St Nazaire 1942. The great Commando Raid. (Osprey Campaign Series, 92). Osprey Military, Oxford 2001, ISBN 1-84176-231-8 .
- Jon Cooksey: Operation Chariot. The Raid on St Nazaire. (Elite forces operations series). Pen & Sword Books, Barnsely 2005, ISBN 1-84415-116-6 .
Web links
- Description of the operation (English)
- Information (English)
- Royal Navy article ( February 2, 2006 memento in Internet Archive )
- checkpoint-online for Operation Chariot (French)
- BBC article "Remembering the St Nazaire raid"
Individual evidence
- ↑ then under First Sea Lord Dudley Pound
- ↑ map
- ↑ German first broadcast: 7th September 2014 'National Geographic Channel', free TV first broadcast: 3rd January 2016 'N24'