On March 28, 1942, British forces launched Operation Chariot, one of World War II’s most daring naval and commando raids, against the heavily defended port of Saint-Nazaire in German-occupied France. HMS Campbeltown, an aging destroyer packed with delayed-action explosives, was stripped down, disguised, and driven directly into the gates of the massive Normandie dry dock, while British commandos fought ashore to destroy its pumps, winding machinery, and other critical infrastructure. The raid succeeded in putting the dock out of action for the remainder of the war, denying German capital ships such as Tirpitz access to the only dry dock on France’s Atlantic coast capable of servicing them-but the success came at enormous cost as the extraction flotilla was devastated and many of the raiders were killed or captured. This documentary follows the engineering, deception, desperate fighting, failed extraction, and delayed explosion that made the Saint-Nazaire Raid one of the most extraordinary special operations of World War II.

Sources:
https://www.history.navy.mil/research...

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news/202...

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news/202...

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news/201...

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news/202...

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