The Mother Of All Commando Raids

That is what handed for video video games once I was a child.

Estimated studying time: 14 minutes

Again in my day video video games had been referred to as books. Like most quasi-professional phrase monkeys, I used to be an aggressive reader. I used to be virtually raised by Alistair MacLean, Ian Fleming, Frederick Forsyth, and Rodney William Whitaker.

Prologue

The Weapons of Navarone was an epic learn. As outlandish because the plot might sound, it was at the very least not directly impressed by the actual world.

Overlook for a second that they by no means actually acquired the weapons proper and that no person is that fearless in the actual world. These compelling tales of daring and elan captivated a younger man coming of age within the 1970’s. The Weapons of Navarone, The place Eagles Dare, Ice Station Zebra, Dr. No, The Canines of Warfare, The Eiger Sanction, and Shibumi planted seeds that germinate right here every week at GunsAmerica.

Talking solely for myself, I couldn’t write till I had executed some stuff. I revisit my efforts at fiction again in Excessive College and easily cringe. Science fiction clearly has little sensible foundation. Consequently, sci-fi and fantasy are pretty forgiving of the neophyte wordsmith. Nevertheless, if you wish to draft compelling prose about one thing as technically exact as covert commando operations, you’d higher at the very least have identified any person who was there.

Ian Fleming penned each the James Bond novels in addition to the youngsters’s guide Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang. Throughout WW2 he was the actual freaking deal.

MacLean served with the Royal Navy throughout World Warfare 2. Forsyth flew de Havilland Vampires with the RAF earlier than spending a lot of the remainder of his life in sundry battle zones across the globe. Whitaker served within the US Navy through the Korean Warfare. Fleming was a reliable spy. In every case, these extraordinary motion scribes had a deep properly of sensible expertise from which to attract. However did you ever surprise the place all that stuff got here from?

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The Downside In St Nazaire

The Normandie Dry Dock at St. Nazaire, France, was the one Nazi-controlled facility outdoors of Germany correct that might handle a capital ship the likes of the battleship Tirpitz. Within the early years of World Warfare 2 earlier than the widespread deployment of plane carriers, large dreadnoughts just like the Tirpitz and the Bismarck had been efficient not a lot for what they did as what they had been able to doing. It was the specter of the battleship and her fearsome weapons that saved fight fleets bottled up and gave invasion planners pause.

That is the French liner Normandie within the St. Nazaire dry dock. This dock facility was the target of Operation Chariot.

Regardless of their terrifying nature, these large battlewagons had been pretty fragile weapon methods. They demanded hundreds of skilled males to crew them and had been profoundly resource-intensive to keep up. A part of the general equation was entry to upkeep services that might restore these huge vessels as soon as they invariably accrued battle harm. That’s what made the dry docks at St. Nazaire so essential to the German battle effort. If the Allies might neutralize this sprawling facility, German naval operations could be severely curtailed. The last word end result of this strategic navy aim was Operation Chariot. Operation Chariot was arguably the best particular operations raid of all time.

The Mission

The Germans noticed to it that the St. Nazaire docks bristled with fast-firing weapons.

St. Nazaire is positioned on the north financial institution of the Loire River, some 250 miles from the closest British port. The Germans knew it was essential and defended it accordingly. A full brigade of flak weapons together with in depth naval artillery, two U-boat flotillas, all kinds of torpedo boats and harbor protection craft, and a complete Wehrmacht infantry division had been allotted to maintain St. Nazaire prickly.

The target of the operation was to disable the Normandie Dock facility on the precise. Nevertheless, the complete advanced was defended by some 5,000 German troops.

The outer harbor of St. Nazaire was outlined by a pair of artifical piers that caught out into the Atlantic. These piers helped protect a pair of lock gates that maintained a gentle water degree within the enclosed St. Nazaire basin. This protected the restore facility from ocean swells and the vagaries of the tides. The related dry dock was the biggest on the earth when it was accomplished in 1902.

The Bismarck was attacked and sunk as she made for St. Nazaire after the notorious Battle of the Denmark Strait in Could of 1941. This was the dreadnought-versus-dreadnought slugfest that claimed HMS Hood and broken the Prince of Wales. With Tirpitz nonetheless within the battle, St. Nazaire needed to go.

The Plan

British navy planners schemed out dozens of potential choices. The ultimate plan was unbelievably audacious. It additionally concerned bending the foundations a bit.

Launched in 1919 after which rapidly retired in 1922, the USS Buchanan was constructed to battle WW1 however got here too late. She was later transferred to the Royal Navy in trade for land rights.

HMS Campbeltown was a WW1-vintage American destroyer initially christened the USS Buchanan. We had gifted the Buchanan to the Brits as a part of the destroyers-for-bases deal whereby President Roosevelt traded out of date warships for rent-free 99-year leases to navy services in such British holdings as Newfoundland, Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, Guyana, Bermuda, and others. It was a reasonably candy deal. Early within the battle we additionally traded a considerable proportion of Britain’s gold reserves for navy tools. I don’t have a lot in widespread with FDR politically, however the man was a shrewd operator.

It is a Fairmile Motor Launch (ML). Quick and maneuverable, the ML bristled with machine-guns and was used for a wide range of covert operations.

The idea of the operation had the Campbeltown stripped down, filled with explosives, and operated by a skeleton crew. Escorted by a pair of Royal Navy destroyers and carrying a sturdy drive of British Military commandos, the Campbeltown could be rammed onto the dry dock facility at velocity. A number of nimble Fairmile Motor Launches (ML) carrying their very own commando forces would land concurrently and disgorge their troops.

With assist from the flotilla, the commandos would neutralize shore defenses, blast the pumps and assist tools wanted to handle the dry docks with explosives, after which escape through the ready MLs. The explosive cost within the Campbeltown could be set on a timer to blow up after the assault drive was clear. It was an extremely daring plan.

The Weapons

Right here is HMS Campbeltown throughout her emergency refit. Be aware the rows of appliqué armor plate being affixed alongside the perimeters of the deck.

The conversion of the Campbeltown was effected in ten days. The Brits gutted her of every part they might take away to lift her draft and permit her to clear the sand shoals main into the estuary. The three 4-inch gun turrets, torpedo tubes, and depth cost launchers had been all stripped. Of their place, maritime staff put in a quick-firing 12-pounder (3-inch) gun together with eight 20mm computerized Oerlikons. Moreover, the realm across the bridge and deck was strengthened with metal armor. The intent was to remodel the previous beat-up tin can right into a close-range antipersonnel gunship.

British staff eliminated two of the funnels and reshaped the remaining two to make the ship higher resemble its German counterpart. They packed the bow with 9,000 kilos of excessive explosive after which sealed the cost inside a thick layer of concrete. The plan was to scuttle the ship by opening the seacocks as soon as she got here to relaxation. They might then provoke the explosive cost through time pencils to make sure sufficient delay to permit pleasant troops to egress. Time pencils had been WW2-vintage detonators that employed acid to eat by means of a wire to launch a spring-loaded striker. An identical package was used throughout Operation Valkyrie, the ill-fated mission to kill Hitler in 1944.

Let’s research this picture of 1942-vintage British commandos for a minute. I counted at the very least 4 M1928 Thompsons together with the Bren gun. Given the character of the net gear, I assume the Thompson gunners are utilizing stick mags. Be aware that the man on the left has his Webley pistol strategically oriented to assist defend the household jewels.

Provided Effectively For St Nazaire

Whereas the Campbeltown was the principle occasion, the British commandos had been liberally equipped with American Thompson submachine weapons. Developed throughout World Warfare 1, the M1921 and subsequent M1928 Thompsons had been lyrically out of date by 1942. Nevertheless, the Tommy gun hit like a freight practice and was the one weapon of its kind accessible in amount on the time. In lots of circumstances, the British purchased Thompsons utilizing their nationwide gold reserves after which shipped them throughout the Atlantic, braving the U-boat wolf packs within the course of. There isn’t a telling what number of of these lovely weapons had been despatched to the underside whereas enroute. Regardless, the commandos nonetheless had entry to loads of them.

The M1928A1 Thompson was an iconic weapon.

The 1928A1 Thompsons utilized by the commandos featured heavy machined receivers, removable buttstocks, and vertical foregrips. The weapons weighed practically 11 kilos empty, and the drum magazines, when accessible, had been each cumbersome and loud. Nevertheless, nothing else in comparison with the shut battle.

Execution

No plan survives first contact with the enemy, and Operation Chariot was no totally different. Guided by Royal Navy submarines and flying a captured German Kriegsmarine naval ensign, the Campbeltown was first sighted by U-593 whereas maneuvering beneath cowl of darkness. RAF bombers peppered the realm with bombs as a diversion, and the Campbeltown now made for the shoals at its high velocity.

Campbeltown grounded twice however pulled herself over the sand with issue. Roughly eight minutes out from the docks, the Germans illuminated the little armada with searchlights. When the shore batteries opened hearth, the Captain of the Campbeltown radioed, “Ship being fired upon by pleasant forces.” This purchased all of them a number of extra valuable minutes. Like correct pirates, the crew exchanged the German flag for its British counterpart about one mile out and all hell broke unfastened.

That is how far the Campbeltown acquired up onto the dock facility earlier than it detonated. At this level, the Germans don’t know what’s coming.

At 0134, the Campbeltown bulled its method by means of the protecting anti-torpedo nets and slammed into the dock gates. The drive of the impression pushed the massive ship 33 ft onto the gates and smashed 36 ft of the vessel’s bow. The commando component then charged off of the Campbeltown in two assault groups. The ship’s crew scuttled the vessel and activated the time pencils. The escorting motor launches and torpedo boats landed their commandos as properly. The consequence was unfettered chaos.

That is what was left of a British gentle Motor Launch boat after the Germans chewed it to items with their shore batteries.

Trapped In St Nazaire

The motor launches acquired slaughtered. With roughly 100 troops on the bottom, the assault unit commander realized evacuation by sea was now not sensible. His orders to his troops had been easy: Do your greatest to get again to England, don’t give up till out of ammunition, and don’t give up in any respect if it may be helped. The commandos fought like berserkers.

That is the Campbeltown as soon as the Germans seized it however earlier than it truly exploded. See these guys within the stalhelm helmets milling about on the deck? It’s about to suck to be them.

As soon as the Campbeltown was disabled and deserted, the Germans swarmed aboard. They assumed they’d captured a British warship. The 4.5 tons of excessive explosive encased in concrete detonated a number of hours later round midday. The blast claimed some 360 German troops. The British had additionally fired torpedoes into the realm which sported time-delay fuses.

The next day, German staff from Group Todt deployed to try to wash up particles and salvage the scenario. Nevertheless, these civilian staff had been sporting khaki uniforms. When the previously-fired British torpedoes detonated unexpectedly the apprehensive trigger-happy defenders mistook the khaki-clad German staff for extra British commandos and opened hearth on them, killing a number of.

Aftermath

That is an aerial photograph of the Normandie Dock after the raid. The derelict vessel within the dock is what remained of HMS Campbeltown.

The St. Nazaire dry dock advanced was rendered unusable for the remainder of the battle. It was not truly repaired till 1948. Of the 612 British troops who deployed on Operation Chariot, solely 228 efficiently made it again to England. 169 had been killed, and one other 215 had been made POWs. 5 indestructible younger studs evaded by means of Spain earlier than stowing away on a ship for England. The operation produced 5 Victoria Crosses, two of them posthumously.

READ MORE: When Individuals and Russians Went to Warfare

That is the Royal Navy frigate HMS Campbeltown launched in 1987. When the residents of Campbelltown, PA, voted on whether or not or to not mortgage their bell again to the Royal Navy to be used on this warship, the measure solely handed by 5 votes. Apparently, these Pennsylvanians had been fairly connected to their bell.

The HMS Campbeltown bell is proudly displayed in Campbelltown, PA, as we speak.

The ship’s bell from Campbeltown was recovered through the raid and later introduced to the folks of Campbelltown, Pennsylvania, on the finish of the battle. In 1988 the folks of Campbelltown loaned the bell again to the Royal Navy for set up on the brand new HMS Campbeltown, a contemporary frigate. The bell was returned to Pennsylvania in 2011 when the second vessel was decommissioned. It appeared becoming punctuation on some of the audacious particular operations missions in navy historical past.

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