The officer in charge of the naval phase of the raid on st nazaire, commander r. Tirpitz was the second of two bismarckclass battleships built for the german kriegsmarine war navy during world war ii. Added gun 222a to initial deployment and pieces window. In early 1942, shipping losses in the atlantic threatened britains. Nazaire in march 1942 remains one of the outstanding acts of heroism in world war two. Target st nazaire is filled with first person accounts and commentary from esteemed scholars that chronicle every step of the pivotal raid, one of the wars most daring missions. This was a combined operation undertaken by royal navy and commando units. Operation chariot was an audacious combined operation raid on the port of st nazaire in german occupied france.
Attack on the iron coast 1968 attack on the iron coast. Warfare featured articles the raid on saint nazaire. St nazaire was targeted because the loss of its dry dock. Packed with tons of high explosives, the destroyer, hms campbeltown, was rammed into the gates of the only dry dock capable of servicing the german battleship tirpitz. At the request of a module user, i have made the following tweaks. The raid on saintnazaire of the 28th march 1942, which has since been written into the annals of naval history as the greatest raid, remains the pinnacle of those earlier achievements. Operation chariot was an audacious combined operation raid on the port of st nazaire in german. Fixed infinite loop when advancing vp indicator with left arrow key. Our ships were following the b17 formations, bombed, and continued following. In the francocanadian cgi cartoon skyland, saint nazaire is a name of a pirate flagship participating in a losing rebellion trying to overthrow a corrupt military dictatorship. The st nazaire raid or operation chariot was a british amphibious attack on the heavily. Nazaire in occupied france on the night of 28 march 1942.
Uboats were stationed out of st nazaire, but it is not known how many were present that night. Thirteen of the 44ths aircraft were scheduled and took off but only eight managed to complete the formation and bomb the target. On 28 march 1942, british forces launched one of the most daring operations of the second world war. The whole film gets under the skin of the raid in a manner and depth that others have tried. The st nazaire raid operation chariot was a seaborne attack on the heavily defended docks of st. The mission was a formative step in the building of a special operations capability for the allies, and a painful lesson learned in combined operations. Preserving and protecting the memory of operation chariot, the great combined operations raid on the french atlantic port of st. This was a most brave undertaking when a old us navy ww1 destroyer sold to us by the americans was loaded with 4 and a half tones of high explosive and up armoured was crashed in to a giant dry dock in france. A new release on dvd from battlefield history tv and pen and sword digital, the saint nazaire raid is the most complete analysis of the epic saint nazaire raid available. As a major submarine base for the germans, saint nazaire was subject to a british raid in 1942 and it was heavily bombed by the allies until 1945. Nazaire is james dorrians fascinating account of the british commando raid on st. For the final scenes of the film, based on her sistership campbeltowns daring st nazaire raid, her four funnels were reduced to two, and cut down at an angle to resemble the funnels of a german torpedo boat, just as campbeltowns had been. Saint nazaire progressively replaced nantes as the main haven on the loire estuary. It was an operation so heroic that it resulted in the award of five victoria crosses and 80 other decorations for.
However the port was miles up a well defended estuary. Deutsches bundesarchivgerman federal archive read more. Nazaire in occupied france on the night of march 28 1942 during world war ii. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading st nazaire raid. Nazaire galt als zweitstarkste im westlichen frankreich nach brest. The saintnazaire dock was the target of operation chariot, a british commando raid in 1942. In march 1942, a combined force of royal navy and army commandos sailed up the river loire in france, under fire from german forces, to st nazaire, where. People from saint nazaire edit for full list, see category. The target of this audacious raid, codenamed operation chariot, was the huge. In the first part of the game, the player moves the british boats and destroyer hms campbeltown camouflaged as a german ship to their landing areas, while determining the results of the many shots from the harbor defense guns. Losing it would directly affect germanys strategy in the north atlantic.
The st nazaire raid or operation chariot was a successful british. Building on the success of various commando raids during 1941, headquarters combined operations moved up the scale of size and complexity by electing to attack and deny the only dry dock that could take a german battleship for repairs, the normandie dock. Associate membership of the st nazaire society is open to everyone with an interest in learning more about operation chariot, in contributing to, or benefiting from, the societys unique knowledgebase, and in keeping the raid s memory alive for the benefit of future generations. Is there a german u boat display real u boat, inside the museum at the st. It was decided that the campbeltown would be used to ram to dry dock and transport one group of commandos. Typically, in 1943, the usaaf would lose approximately 5 percent of its bombers on a mission. The life and times of robert ryder vc, richard hopton. Nazaire and brit commmandos so i was quite pleasantly surprised to stumble upon this movie to see it based on. The town was one of the most damaged in france during world war ii. Nazaire and is reminiscent of the film the gift horse. The attack, known as the st nazaire raid, successfully destroyed the adjacent drydock by ramming an explosivefilled destroyer into it, but the uboat pens were not targeted. Operation chariot1942 french coast kindle edition by dorrian, james.
The st nazaire raid or operation chariot was a successful british amphibious attack on the heavily defended normandie dry dock atst nazaire in germanoccupied france during the second world war. It consisted of 611 british sailors and commandos in a small flottila lead by the destroyer campbeltown, to destroy the joubert dock situated in the port at st nazaire. There was also quite a good british film not a doco on the commando raid at st nazaire. It will be the first fictional film made based on the heroic action carried out by british commandos against the nazis on 28 march 1942. The raid on saintnazaire was, of course, depicted in a film in the 1960s, although today it is not as wellknown as those based on macleans prose. Nazaire the old lendlease 1919built american destroyer, uss buchanan, renamed hms campbeltown was converted for the raid and given the approximate appearance of a german moweclass escort vessel in the hope that this would cause the german defenders to hesitate. The st nazaire raid or operation chariot was a successful british amphibious attack on the heavily defended. The raid on st nazaire 1942 naval historical society of. With jeremy clarkson, corran purdon, bob wright, james dunning.
The film is based on the commando raid on the french port of st. This solitaire wargame simulates the march 28, 1942, british raid on the nazioccupied french port of st. A wounded british prisoner of war, sitting on the ground in st. Building on the success of various commando raids during 1941, headquarters combined operations moved up the scale of size and complexity by electing to attack and deny the only dry dock that could take a german battleship for repairs, the normandie dock at st nazaire on frances atlantic coast. A combined operations raid on the dry dock at st nazaire led by no. Nazaire, that increased to more than 8 percent losses with more than 55 percent damaged. More vcs were won during the raid than at any other operation in world war two that took same amount of time.
A destroyed, an armed trawler, and a minesweeper were all stationed permanently at the docks. Nonetheless, any afficionado of war movies ought to watch the attack on the iron coast from 1968. Nazaire, march 269, 1942 the victoria cross all material contained in this site is subject to and must not be reproduced in any format without the consent of the relevant holder. But on the biscay coast of occupied france was the strategic port of st.
The saint nazaire dock was the target of operation chariot, a british commando raid in 1942. Nazaire, on the west coast of france, had dry docks that the allies had to put out of action if the battle of the atlantic was going to be won. The st nazaire raid or operation chariot was a british amphibious attack on the heavily defended normandie dry dock at st nazaire in germanoccupied france during the second world war. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. St nazaire raid wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. History channel disc 4 of an 8 disc set target st nazaire. The raid was launched to disable the only dry dock on the atlantic seaboard that was big enough to accommodate the terrifying german. I will be visiting france and loire valley this summer. European assault opens with the british raid on st. The operation was undertaken by the royal navy and british commandos under the auspices of combined operations headquarters on 28 march 1942. The st nazaire raid or operation chariot was a successful british amphibious attack on the heavily defended normandie dry dock at st nazaire in germanoccupied france during the second world war.
Aug 14, 2011 a wounded british prisoner of war, sitting on the ground in st. Saint nazaire has a spectacular skate park with a full pipe. Shot on location with the help of extensive veteran testimony, leading experts on commando operations and combat experienced soldiers, the lid is lifted on the complex antimony of the raid and the team marvel at the heroism. Transported on board hms campbeltown which, packed with hidden explosives, rammed the dock gates, and a fleet of 18 smaller vessels, the commandos stormed ashore and succeeded in. Second part in the documentary series about the commandos of ww2. The whole film gets under the skin of the raid in a manner and depth. A key commitment made by stakeholders is to make a film accessible and. Jeremy clarkson tells the story of one of the most daring operations of world war ii the commando raid on the german occupied dry dock at st.
A motor launch boat still smoldering in the loire estuary after the saint nazaire raid. Aug 15, 2011 i will be visiting france and loire valley this summer. The film depicts an account of allied combined operations headquarters commandos executing a daring raid on the germanoccupied french coast during the second world war. The cruise ship msc preziosa leaves saintnazaire, its birthplace. A biography of the naval commander at the st nazairre raid, who after a prewar career dominated by sailing ships he sailed home from china in a yacht built for the task and was the naval commander on the british graham land expedition, he had a fairly distinguished wartime career, which included the raid on st. Nazaire raid also called operation chariot was a successful british seaborne attack on the heavily defended docks of st. Sep, 2016 losing it would directly affect germanys strategy in the north atlantic.
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