The True Story of the St Nazaire Raid — the Old Destroyer That Rammed Hitler's Biggest Dock

At 1:34 a.m. on 28 March 1942, the old destroyer HMS Campbeltown, once the American USS Buchanan, rammed the outer gate of the Normandie dock at St Nazaire, the only dry dock on the Atlantic coast of France big enough for the German battleship Tirpitz. Four and a half tons of explosives were hidden in her bow under concrete. Behind her came sixteen wooden motor launches, a motor gunboat and a motor torpedo boat carrying commandos. Of 611 men, 169 were killed, 215 were captured and 228 came home. Five Victoria Crosses were awarded. This film follows Operation Chariot from the threat of the Tirpitz and the lessons of the Bismarck, through the destroyers-for-bases deal that brought the Campbeltown to Britain, her conversion into a floating bomb, the men who volunteered (Commander Robert Ryder, Lt Col Charles Newman, Lt Cdr Stephen Beattie), the voyage from Falmouth, the German signal ruse on the Loire, the ramming, the demolition of the pump house and winding houses, the burning motor launches, Sergeant Thomas Durrant's last fight against the Jaguar, the run through the streets of St Nazaire, the delayed explosion later that morning, the torpedoes of 30 March, and what the raid cost and achieved. In "The File Today" we separate what the record shows from what is still argued about. This documentary is based on historical records. Some scenes are illustrated. Archive photos are public domain (credits below). Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 3:00 The Beast in the Fjord 6:18 An Impossible Target 9:26 The Old American 12:16 The Men Who Volunteered 15:46 Falmouth 18:34 The River 22:23 Into the Dock 27:35 The Last Fight of Sergeant Durrant 29:33 Run for It 31:54 Late in the Morning 34:15 The Torpedoes 35:40 The Price 37:38 Did It Work? 39:38 The File Today Sources: The London Gazette: despatch on the St Nazaire raid and the Victoria Cross citations for Ryder, Beattie, Newman, Durrant and Savage Robert Ryder, "The Attack on St Nazaire" (1947) C. E. Lucas Phillips, "The Greatest Raid of All" (1958) James Dorrian, "Storming St Nazaire" (1998) Robert Lyman, "Into the Jaws of Death: The True Story of the Legendary Raid on St Nazaire" (2013) Wikipedia: St Nazaire Raid, HMS Campbeltown (I42), USS Buchanan (DD-131), German battleship Tirpitz Archive images (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons / Wikipedia): Tirpitz; Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord; HMS Hood; Hood going into action 1941; Bismarck in Norway 1941; Atlantic convoy 1942; Tanker torpedoed; USS Buchanan 1936; US destroyers before transfer 1940; MTB 74; Fairmile B motor launch; Stephen Beattie; Whitley bomber; Wellington bombers; Commandos 1942; Normandie dock after the raid; Singapore surrender 1942; Tirpitz at Tromso 1944; Tirpitz capsized; Falmouth memorial; St Nazaire lock today; Campbeltown being converted 1942; MGB 314. Music (YouTube Audio Library): "Keys To Unravel" and "Fact or Friction" by The Soundlings, "Monument" by TrackTribe, "Somnia" (Variations 1-10) by Reed Mathis. Sound effects: YouTube Audio Library. New files every week — subscribe to Sealed Orders for true missions of World War II, opened one file at a time. #WW2 #StNazaire #Commandos