The Raid on St Nazaire - How to make an explosive entrance 

When are you finishing the bewildering array of partially complete multi part series? Too many to list but I'm sure you have an idea of what's still outstanding

One of the few raids that come close to this one …is the unbelievably Daring Solo Attack by the Beaufort torpedo bomber on Gneiseneau … By F/O Cambell and crew …. Cambell seems to be a name that menaced the Kriegsmarine repeatedly

Can you please go into more details about the cheese lost in the attack on _Nelson_

@@gurk_the_magnificent9008 yes! Type, vintage, displacement the lot

Do you have any idea what a modernized tegethoff would look like? Like if say the Yugoslavians had been allowed to keep the remaining ships of the class as originally intended

Sometimes, history is stranger than fiction, because fiction has to be believable.

Better yet, the explosion was late. So there was no way that was planned that way.

A missed opportunity for Fry and Laurie.

"Well... Scheiß."

@@kmech3rd now I’m just imagining the British prisoner smirking at the German officer

Ah... Takes me back. Good times, those.

It was the greatest raid……………. In the World.

I love the fact I understand this comment.

Some say, it is a suicide mission. Some say only madmen would come up with it, and even madder men would undertake it. All we know is... It's called the greatest raid of all!

Some of Clarksons best work, you can hear his emotion in this brilliant doc by North One. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-07Zd0Oy8JyQ.html

Glad you said it cause i couldnt recall the german commander's name. He literally sought out the highest ranking British officer to give the recommendation

Not unlike Hipper’s captain recommending HMS Gloworm’s skipper for a medal for valor DURING the War. As in, everyone is still shooting at each other. ( I have corrected an earlier error where I wrote Scharnhorst instead of Hipper)

@MusicMaster1987 Tends to be relatively common in naval warfare too because both sides share a mutual enemy in the sea.

@@TheColonelsThree The comments of the British captin that sunvk the Sharnhorst are in tye same vain.

@@TheColonelsThree You mean Hipper's? The Sharnhost never met Gloworm.

Commando: Didn't you say your bosses were all down having a look at the ship? Seems like the plan worked even better than we wanted.

Commando: Now, go make me a sammich!

To quote another brit known for (albeit virtual) naval content: "Fair fights are for suckers!"

A fair fight is a sure sign of shit tactics.

Fair fight are when my people come home alive i dont care about the other guys

A fair fight is for the boxing ring, not warfare.

@@julianarnott5184 Pretty much what our PT instructor told us: If you walk away from it afterwards, it was a fair fight.

Vågsøy 😉

He sounds like a bad ass.

@@bigblob1623 Indeed he was. Rarely talked about it, however, he lost the knuckle on his left pinkey from a bullet. When asked about it he told of when he landed in Italy pre invasion to shake up the Axis defences. Ended up hijacking a truck and running a road block with guns blazing. When parachuted into Tito's mountain HQ in Yugoslavia he did so during a German ground attack. The US officer parachuted with him required new underwear after they landed...

He sounds like someone you would want on your side

Your uncle must have been in no.2 Commando? My father was on Vaagso & St. Nazaire raids in 6 troop 2 Commando. He told me that on the morning of their return to Plymouth, he went to the mess hall for breakfast, there he found 25 places set aside for men of 6 troop. There were 6 of the 25 men present, 14 had been killed, 5 captured. That was when the cost of the raid became apparent to him.

Is it really worth mentioning when someone considers something which not for them to consider? Would anyone care I am considering receiving $30000 from my bank every month? I doubt my bank will agree to my plan.

​@@otten5666 It was up to the British to consider though. If what he says is true, they wanted to use the ship because it was a pain to maintain due to lack of spare parts. But the Poles disagreed.

@@Kisielator If it was up to the British then why mention the Polish said No? Either the Poles were in control of the ship and in that case the Brits considering anything is not interesting, or the Brits were in control but then the reason the ship wasn't used wasn't that the Poles said no but that the ship wasn't the best choice in the end. I bet it is not as interesting as the OP makes it out to be. It sounds like the Brits made a list of ships in their ports suitable for the job and simply worked down the list eliminating ships until the most suitable ship remained. In that case there were probably 20 ships 'considered'. Maybe I am being too anal about it but it just sounds like a weird anecdote and I wonder what the sources say about this.

@@otten5666 The ship did belong to Polish Government, but was subordinated to control of the British Admiralty. Don't want to argue, just stating how I understood it worked. It's just a fun little tidbit, but it would be nice to have a source for it. For all we know it might have been suggested by some admiral and shut down immediately.

@@otten5666 It was, for a short time, one of the propositions taken into consideration. And if the Author is talking about the french alternative, in my opinion he should also mention the ORP "Burza". And that's it :)

Ye

Except the Doolittle raid rexulted in 100k+ Chinese deaths. Overlooked in validating the Doolittle raid.

@@MrToadColorado Except the Japanese had already killed hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians for other "reprisals" before that. And they would go on to kill hundreds of thousands more afterwards. The Japanese Empire didn't exactly need excuses to commit war crimes on a national level.

@@kenle2 Yes, very true, but assistance in the raid provoked added Chinese deaths. And the US risked two carriers for a morale building exercise. The Japanese strategic allocations changed due to a shocking homeland raid, but little damage was done.. I make no excuses for the Japanese who conducted an Asian holocaust. In isolated outposts all over the Pacific they behaved the same way. Rabaul: almost all prisoners were killed. Palawan: burn submariners to death. Prisoners on Truk, Wake, and other islands massacred and tortured and even used for medical experiments.. I have a list I keep when I read about it - it is enormous. And the use of the bomb and fire-bombing? Well, the Chinese were still being abused and starved to death by the Japanese so should the US have been concerned about burning down Japanese cities and killing civilians? I don't think so. We even dropped leaflets telling them we were going to do it. After Tokyo March 1945 there were no reason for Japanese NOT to know they could be killed in their cities. Besides, the 29's couldn't hit much from altitude, so to save Japanese civilians we should have skipped area bombing and had no effective bombing of Japan? No way. Sow the whirlwind reap the whirlwind. Of course today, the Japanese are taught today that yes they committed war crimes, just as the US did in bombing Japanese cities so in classic FOX NEWS-ERA "false equivalency" it was al the same. No I don't think so.

@@MrToadColorado Just my two cents, it goes without saying that war crimes were horrible, but the prospects of surrender, especially unconditional, were not in it for the Japanese until the very end... and even a conditional surrender came about at an astounding cost, and the prospects of fighting the Soviets as well. The "saving up for defense of the home island" strategy that the Japanese took can be seen as a consequence of the doolittle raid, and if the entire Japanese navy/army, which already lacked unity of cause, was further weakened elsewhere by the doolittle raid, then its far more than a morale victory... not to mention just how effective a morale victory can actually be. we tend to lessen the true impact of something if its statistical results don't seem beneficial, especially when something like the doolittle raid seems to have worsened something that was already bad. but blaming the US for the Japanese-backed holocaust in asia isn't entirely accurate, and is similar to the claims made by certain groups on European theater: claiming the American-British bombing was the real reason the death toll was so high in concentration camps. The japanese were looking for any excuse to kill Chinese civilians, and what better way to do it than claim it was a reprisal for being caught by surprise. In blaming their ongoing genocide on the Americans, they attempt to rob America of its "morale victory" while justifying the murder to their own army and civilian population. It was Japan putting a positive spin on a humiliation... and in the end so many ships, raw supplies, and manpower would be devoted to the "homeland defense program" which itself was constantly hampered by the fire-bombing. (its hard to rebuild ships when you're constantly rebuilding homes and factories)

"Its an older code sir, but it checks out."

"Your overconfidence is your weakness" "Your faith in your fuse is yours"

Have seen it. And agree.

Can second it! As well as the one he did on the Victoria Cross

An important operation which is done on a shoe string.... the withdraw being of a secondary consideration.

​@@ajsteffen41 Yes that too, and the one about the PQ 17 Convoy, I wish Clarkson would do more documentaries like that, he is very good at it.

@@visualdon True, its one of the rare subjects where he largely puts the blokish persona aside and shows he is actually quite intelligent and definitely knows his history.

True French fashion then

Don't worry, the french new they weren't 'worthy' of a march through the town, as they didn't do anything did they, they were too busy sitting in port at the time of the raid, staying safe and not comming out to play.

So what? Zee English zay alvays need sumting to complain about. Musn't grumble.

I believe I visited the Frigate HMS Campbeltown in 2011 when she visited Saint-Nazaire before it was decommissioned.

@@sirmalus5153 The German Kriegsmarine was occupying the port of Saint-Nazaire. The Free French Navy wasn't there! The British were going to ask the Free French Navy (i.e. not the remainder of the French Navy that was stationned in Toulon and later to scuttle its own ships in November 1942) to lend the "Ouragan" but putting the Free French forces under General De Gaulle in the known-how was too much of a risk. Indeed, the only French person aware that the Raid was going to happen was sub-lieutenant Jack Lee on board ML447 who was part of S.O.E. to act as an interpreter (yet he was half-French as his mother was American). The civilians in Saint-Nazaire suffered not at the hands of the commandos, but at the hand of the Germans who went crazy shouting everywhere at anything that moved as the two time-delayed torpedoes exploded on the 30th of March causing panic amongst the German soldiers who thought there were still commandos in town. 18 civilians aged between 5 and 63 were killed (about 50 either killed or wounded) then 750 inhabitants were sent to a camp in Savenay waiting three days for their fate. Luckily, they were not executed but released under the active diplomacy of their town mayor, Pierre Toscer. It is best to read a bit of history to understand actually what happens and it is better to do so before making unsubstantiated statements.

"It is probably the only time when a soldier was awarded the VC for a purely naval action." I think a Royal Marine officer in, I want to say Lion but maybe Tiger's turret was avared VC for flooding the magazine and making sure the ship did not explode. And Jutland is certainly a purely naval action.

@@gokbay3057 I think the idea is that a soldier (ie an army guy - I believe the commandos were still an army unit at this point as opposed to part of the Marines) gets the medal for a naval action, rather than the more common sailor...

@@chrisoddy8744 Ah, that meaning of Soldier... That's fair I was also counting Marines and Sailors under "soldier".

@@gokbay3057 I should have said "pongo" :)

@@chrisoddy8744 No Royal Marines on Operation Chariot, Royal Navy personnel and Army commandos, plus of course the RAF which played a much more important role than stated (reconnaissance flights, bomber raid, protection during withdrawal of the MLs) which is why it is a Combined Operation.

@UNSCForwardontodawn Thank you for passing this man's story along !:-)

Considering what he took part of, he didn't need to brag about anything

@@toddkes5890 Those who took part in any real actions, never do. They don't want to remember or talk about, the things they have seen.

Something I noticed during my own service: the people who stacked bodies tended to be pretty chill. The people who did nothing of note tended to be the biggest, loudest douchebags.

Well once he got that raid and war done I don’t think he needed much adventure after that.

HMS Campbeltown gave new meaning to the words "going over the top" as it went over the top of the drydock gate. 🤭

Imagine Tibbits just chilling in the afterlife for a few hours, then suddenly a long scrolling killfeed just pops up around noon.

Sadly, some thought he had survived which is why he was awarded the DSC even though he didn't make it. However, later witness accounts show that he was killed when ML177 taking him back to Britain was hit by a German coastal battery. For his clever design of the Campbeltown hidden bomb and his taking over of the helm at a crucial time, he should have been awarded a posthumous VC as well.

"Hmm, Germans shot up last three men to man the wheel, mustz be therefore completely safe for me"

@@Tegsy2 The Victoria Cross is awarded for "... most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty _in the presence of the enemy_" so his courage in taking over at the helm would have 'counted' toward that award. The clever design of the Campbeltown bomb is more DSC territory

Kings supporting kings.

o7

Das Boot Excellent series

Yep, I feel the same whenever I'm in Normandy, the Ruhr cities, etc. They're full of ghosts.

I don't know why this put me in mind of my grandmother who was a couple hundred kilometers away in Aveyron during the war. She had no war stories, as she was in such a deep rural area, she never saw a German. She passed away last year here in California at the age of 96 after leading quite a life. I miss her.

How so?

@@williamnixon3994 Because even though it was badly-needed aid from an ally at a crucial time, that's what the RN really wanted to do with it all along. "Ugh, this awful scow just reeks of the Yankees who made her. Let's fill it with explosives and slam it into something French that's full of Germans."

@@johnladuke6475 Really? They were hardly going to use one of the newer 'Tribal' (or later) class destroyers, were they? Not everything is driven by petty rivalries, or by a desire to be ironically 'clever'. Especially during what had by then been regarded as a war of national survival for some years.

@@ThePhoenix198 While that is the truth of the situation, it's still funny (and probably accurate) to imagine some RN officers being not very sad at all to condemn a ship built in a USN shipyard.

@@williamnixon3994 You expect a famous vessel in a class to be in service with it's parent nation, and for it's intended use, rather then a trojan horse

It is larger than life. I still know living witnesses who were children when the Raid happened. The explosion of HMS Campbeltown could be heard at least 20 miles away. It was a terrific explosion. The damage in the port of Saint-Nazaire was considerable given the relative small force of some 600+ Royal Navy and Army Commandos engaged in the Raid (I have on my count 609, 341 Royal Navy personnel and 265 commandos). The quality of the Intelligence provided on the port installations by the underground information network made a huge difference in the operation order and the preparation of the demolition parties. There is no doubt in my mind, and it may be down to Lady Luck too, that it is the "Greatest Raid of All".

That is a fair point, well said! Even a posthumous VC could occasionally be considered as a unit citation like Able Seaman Bill Savage for the Royal Navy sailors and Sergeant Tom Durrant onboard ML306.

According to Drach's count, 470 or so participants received no medal, commendation or mention in dipatches. IMO they *ALL* deserved one.

Sub-Lieutenant Michael Wynn, later to become Lord Newborough

@@Tegsy2 Thanks mate, I recalled the story of his daring do from my reading when I was about 12-14 yrs old. I appreciate the update and hope the Lord Newborough led a long and worthy life.

Hmmm not so sure this is applicable to age of sail at all actually, most naval battles in that era saw Britain vastly out numbered and out gunned, punching well above it's weigh is kind of what the RN does

Why would you do anything else other than at least try to apply overwhelming force? Perversely it usually minimizes casualties on both sides, unless you encounter fanatics.

@@ThePhoenix198not everybody can afford enough capital ships to overwhelm the enemy. That's why Nelson cheated and went through the enemy lines with raking fire rather than trading broadsides..

And after Hood went down, the RN went hard on the overwhelming force thing vs. Bismarck. KGV and Rodney once the German ship was crippled by shipborne aircraft ... well, let's just say it went badly for the Jerries.

@@DeliveryMcGeeAny commander worth his salt, be they land, sea or air, will try to establish at least local superiority, be that in numbers, firepower or whatever is assessed as the determining factor. That's what Nelson did by 'crossing the T'

Considering that Spain was strongly Germany leaning just short of being an ally with them that was indeed a risky choice.

@@michaelpettersson4919 ye but Spain would likely not hand Allied forces over to Nazis, because they needed American to survive

@@michaelpettersson4919 A risky choice, but the only realistic one. Only two of France's neighbours weren't Germany, German-occupied or German-allied; Spain and Switzerland. There would have been no way to get from Switzerland back to England, while through Spain, they had a direct land route to Gibraltar.

@@crazyafrican9955 Franco played his cards right so his fascist regime survived until his death in the seventies.

@@michaelpettersson4919 ye he just spent 3 year fighting half the country, if he has to start moving out his Loyal troops shit will have started happening

There's a story of one of the British officers that was captured being brought back to the lock gate right next to C'town. He had to hide his fear of why hadn't she blown yet, if or when will they find the explosives and the fact she could blow any second while he was right there watching German soldiers clamber all over her.

@@MoA-Reload... Thanks. I'd not come across that before. Definitely a buttock clenching moment.

Some real "task failed succesfully" shit going on with those detonators.

@@bigblue6917 I highly recommend watching Jeremy Clarkson's documentary "The greatest raid of all time" too. It's more from the perspective of the Commando's and has far more insight into the men. It's even on YT on Timeline Channel if you're interested

@@MoA-Reload... Was he taken away from the scene before the explosion, or was he still there when the Campbeltown exploded ?

Yeah his ex father in law won a VC during this raid

@@Boxmediaphile no he didn't he won it at Arnhem

@@Boxmediaphile as far as is remember his ex father in law won it in Arnhem, but while doing resarch for his Victoria Cross film JC came across the info about "The Greatest raid of all" thus his second film. And BtW: more recent one about PQ-17 was rather good too - sadly its farily hard to find online

Ah the greatest raid of all.

It's really good so is the the bridge to far I've seen them both over 20 times lol

Damn, I completely forgot about that! First mission right?

Yep!

"I'll kill a man in a fair fight. Or if I think he's about to start one." - Jayne

@@seafodder6129 or if there's a woman. Or if I'm getting paid. Mostly if I'm getting paid.

I forget who said, _"If you find yourself in a fair fight then your tactics suck."_

The Klingons would disagree

@@Rdeboer Supposedly, John Steinbeck

Times have changed, Journalists weren't the completely irredeemable "profession" they've become on recent years... Or at least not to such an obvious degree...

They should have invited some lawyers too...😂

You may just be confirming that yanks do dumb things though.

HMS Fromage

See Drach's Video! Very upsetting, losing a cheese like that.

Rumour is that the RN wants her trials to include a visit there

@@Trek001 The previous Cambeltown visited a few time. Wonder if they'll get the bell back from Campbelltown in the US who look after the bell for them...

Because we can't use the traditional names of RN ships any more as nobody these days knows what they mean. So lets just have another load of towns, just after decommission the previous ones.

😄

We’ve been trying to reach you about your battleships extended warranty

Is an Integrator anything like an interrogator? 🤔😉

How does one mess up those "z"s THAT bad? Aren't they supposed to replace the "th"s, and not just be inserted at random points?

I’ve never heard of “The Burning of USS Philadelphia”. Can you recommended any reading besides a basic google search?

@@CFarnwide I have only seen one book on the subject, and that is a book I read two years back. This book is "Decatur's Bold and Daring Act - The Philadelphia in Tripoli 1804" by Mark Lardas. There are a number of fairly good write-ups of the raid on the Internet on good websites. Also, Drachinifel briefly covered the raid in his video on the Barbary Pirates as well.

@@anantr99 I will check out Drachinifels rendition. Thanks much!

Can't comment on Nelson but I remember reading that Chariot was pitched as "The sauciest thing since Drake."

That's a truly remarkable turn of fate!

In December 1993 I had the honour to assist Tynedale Council Musum Services to commemorate the December 1943 sinking of HMS Tynedale by U-593 with surviving members of the crew of Tynedale plus the captain of U593, Kl Gerd Kelbling and his senior surviving Petty Officer Gunther Uberschar. At one point in the wreath laying ceremony, on a bitterly cold December day in Hexham, one of the Tynedale crew nudged his neighbour and, pointing to the Uboat Captain said “See that bugger there; why couldn’t he have sunk us in July ?…..” The following year, at the invitation of the U593 Comrades association, my partner and i, along with several of the Tynedale crew went to the U593 reunion celebration at Cuxhaven and Altenbruch. To be so honoured by the then surviving crew members of both vessels was an honour.

Not to be mean or callous, but in strategic terms, this was not all that costly. An old destroyer and some MTBs, a company of troops...in return for completely denying the use of a strategic dock to the enemy. Naturally airpower would have been even more economical (albeit less certain in those days than it would be now), but this was an enormous result on a shoestring budget. A testament to the founding principles of Commando tactics - making do, improvising, and using whatever is at hand to best effect. (see also: Brass Balls)

@@cakecakeham5823 I meant "costly" in a relative term. Of course, preventing your big capital ships and many convoys carrying precious cargo from sinking by limiting the Tirpitz area of action with an old destroyer detonating in the right place is good business, but if anything went wrong during the operation (even more wrong than it did, I would say, with a lot of men stranded in port), it would have costed the british a few hundred commandos, which are not easily replaced.

Nah, on the basis of the fact it actually arrived.

Shades of the 2nd Pacific Squadron. Seeing torpedo boats everywhere

At that time most ships were light enough to be pulled on the beach when nessesary.

Per the Egyptian descriptions it was likely near the end of the sea Peoples part of the Bronze Age Collapse as multiple cities that failed to withstand the Sea Peoples are mentioned. The difference is that the Egyptian’s won and survived to write about it. No other nation attacked by the Sea Peoples survived. The Sea Peoples themselves, whoever they were, left no written records that have been found, and very little other evidence either.

Well I did have my coffee that now sits cold in its cup on my desk. Next time I will pour it after Drach s video 😂 Enjoy your coffee with a drop or two of rum of course 😉😁

13:10

The plan for Zebrugge was to sink a couple of blockships at the entrance to the harbour to prevent submarines exiting on convoy attacks. It didn't go so well. There was heavy fighting, and the block wasn't as effective as hoped.

That movie was poor in comparison to the "Gift Horse" a 1952 black and white film.

" This raid pissed off Hitler so much, he issued an order to have any commando (any spy or soldier with a daggar) to be shot on sight." Um, no. As the video itself points out, that order happened months later. (It was in response to a different commando mission, can't remember which one at the moment.)

Yes sadly this order was carried in most cases but in North Africa due to the distance from the raging little man with the funny mustache

The Kriegsmarine had no plans to use the St. Nazaire dock or even send their heavies into the Atlantic at this point in the war, not after what happened to Bismarck. The raid wasn’t necessary to have that happen.

@@bkjeong4302 But they could have. Even if they weren't planning on it at this point, it was a HUGE morale boost to the British.

@@bkjeong4302 Perhaps. But consider the British POV. They could have. And so they wanted to ensure the Germans, could not.

HMS Campbeltown

@@benwilson6145 ugh. The infuriating part is I had it spelled correctly and autocorrect still said no comrade, you spell it my way.

There were still plenty more capital ships under the White Ensign, it's just a QE, Nelson or Revenge couldn't catch Tirpitz to fight it.