March 28 1942 the greatest raid in WWII The raid on St. Nazaire

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Operation Chariot

 

The raid on St. Nazaire in March 1942 remains one of the outstanding acts of heroism in World War Two. More VC’s were won during the raid than at any other operation in World War Two that took same amount of time. St. 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.

 

When the Germans launched the ‘Tirpitz’, they introduced into naval warfare a new type of ship that revolutionised naval design. Fast, heavily armoured and heavily armed, the ‘Tirpitz’ had the potential to roam the North Atlantic, causing chaos amongst the Allied convoys that crossed between America and Britain. Britain had no naval equivalent of the ‘Tirpitz’ and convoys would have been an easy target for her guns.

 

The Tirpitz, however, had one weakness. The only dry dock on the Atlantic coast capable of taking her for repairs and upkeep was the ‘Normandie’ at St. Nazaire – also known as the ‘Forme Ecluse Louis Joubert’. If this dry dock was put out of action, there was no place in the Northern Atlantic that could handle the Tirpitz for repairs and maintenance. This would force the Tirpitz to use dry docks in North Germany. To get into the Atlantic, the Tirpitz would then have to risk going through the Skaggerak between Denmark and Scandinavia and would be open to attack from Allied planes. Even if the Tirpitz got through this narrow stretch of water unscathed, she would have to sail either up the North Sea or through the English Channel to get to the Atlantic – both perilous journeys. Therefore, putting the Normandie dry dock at St. Nazaire out of use made very good sense, as it would have effectively trapped the Tirpitz and kept her out of the Atlantic.

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[clearvision]

Did Biden consider this one?

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Did Biden consider this one?