15/09/2017 Operation Chariot Saint-Nazaire, 1942.3.28 « They achieved much having dared all » 1 15/09/2017 1. Historical background 2. Objectives of the raid 3. Geography and military constraints 4. Means applied/involved 5. The raid 6. The aftermath 7. Achievement 2 15/09/2017 the USA have joined the war in December 1941 Many convoys cross the Atlantic Ocean, carrying supply/goods from the USA to the UK 3 15/09/2017 But these convoys are easy targets for German U-Boote 4 15/09/2017 5 15/09/2017 6 15/09/2017 - UK navy ships more quickly destroyed than built, - UK in worrying military position, - UK at risk of loosing the war - Prime minister Churchill particularly concerned about Tirpitz battleship 7 15/09/2017 8 15/09/2017 « Normandie dock » • 350 m long • 50 m wide • 16,6 m high 9 15/09/2017 1. Historical background 2. Objectives of the raid 3. Geography and military constraints 4. Means applied/involved 5. The raid 6. The aftermath 7. Achievement 10 15/09/2017 11 15/09/2017 12 15/09/2017 1. Historical background 2. Objectives of the raid 3. Geography and military constraints 4. Means applied/involved 5. The raid 6. The aftermath 7. Achievement 13 15/09/2017 Return ticket to St Nazaire 14 15/09/2017 15 15/09/2017 1. Historical background 2. Objectives of the raid 3. Geography and military constraints 4. Means applied/involved 5. The raid 6. The aftermath 7. Achievement 16 15/09/2017 - More than 600 men (including very well trained commandos) and - destroyer HMS Campbeltown (I42), built at Bath Iron Works in 1919, 96m long , modified to look like a German warship and - 15 Motor Launches (MLs), 112-foot-long unarmored mahogany boats - 1 Motor Gunboat (MGB) carried a 2-pounder Vickers anti-aircraft gun, a couple of twin-mount .50-caliber machine guns and a semiautomatic 2-pounder gun. She would be the headquarters boat, and would lead the raiders into the Loire, for she carried both radar and an echo sounder. - 1 Motor Torpedo Boat 74 (MTB-74), modified so that her torpedo tubes, designed to rest amidships, had been moved forward 17 15/09/2017 HMS Campbeltown (I42) destroyer Motor Launch (ML) 18 15/09/2017 Motor Torpedo Boat 74 (MTB-74) 1. Historical background 2. Objectives of the raid 3. Geography and military constraints 4. Means applied 5. The raid 6. The aftermath 7. Achievement 19 15/09/2017 From Falmouth to Saint-Nazaire 20 15/09/2017 The « old mole » jetty 21 15/09/2017 22 15/09/2017 23 15/09/2017 pumps Down To The Pumps 24 15/09/2017 1. Historical background 2. Objectives of the raid 3. Geography and military constraints 4. Means applied/involved 5. The raid 6. The aftermath 7. Achievement 25 15/09/2017 26 15/09/2017 27 15/09/2017 V for victory 28 15/09/2017 - 169 died (half of them on the MLs) - 215 were taken prisonners (5 escaped) - 227 managed to return to Britain 1. Historical background 2. Objectives of the raid 3. Geography and military constraints 4. Means applied/involved 5. The raid 6. The aftermath 7. Achievement 29 15/09/2017 • Normandy dock out of order till 1947 • Restored hope for British nation Decorations / Awards • The extraordinary courage of the raiders resulted in a total of 74 British decorations, and France contributed four Croix de Guerres • An unprecedented 51 men were mentioned in dispatches, and the operation was dubbed by those who survived it as ‘the greatest raid of all’ • Five Victoria Crosses were awarded to the raiders 30 15/09/2017 veteran Stephen Barney 31 15/09/2017 Operation Chariot « The Greatest Raid Of All » Saint-Nazaire, 1942.3.28 32 .