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|strength2=5,000 troops|casualties1=HMS ''Campbeltown'' 169 dead * 215 prisoners of war * 1 Motor Gun Boat 1 Motor Torpedo Boat 13 Motor Launches 1 Armstrong Whitworth Whitley 1 Bristol Beaufighter|casualties2=Normandie dock 360 dead ^ 2 Junkers 88 2 Tankers 2 Tugs|notes= * Does not include aircraft crews ^ Includes civilians on board HMS ''Campbeltown'' when she exploded. ^ The numbers of German troops killed during the raid are not known. | campaignbox = }} The St Nazaire Raid or Operation ''Chariot'' was a successful British amphibious attack on the heavily defended Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire in German-occupied France during the Second World War. The operation was undertaken by the Royal Navy and British Commandos under the auspices of Combined Operations Headquarters on 28 March 1942. St Nazaire was targeted because the loss of its dry dock would force any large German warship in need of repairs, such as the , to return to home waters via either the English Channel or the GIUK gap, both routes of which were heavily defended by British units including the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, rather than having a safe haven available on the Atlantic coast. The obsolete destroyer , accompanied by 18 smaller craft, crossed the English Channel to the Atlantic coast of France and was rammed into the Normandie dock gates. The ship had been packed with delayed-action explosives, well hidden within a steel and concrete case, that detonated later that day, putting the dock out of service for the remainder of the war and up to five years after. A force of commandos landed to destroy machinery and other structures. Heavy German gunfire sank, set ablaze or immobilised all the small craft intended to transport the commandos back to England; the commandos had to fight their way out through the town to try to escape overland. They were forced to surrender when their ammunition was expended and they were surrounded. After the raid 228 men of the force of 622 returned to Britain; 169 were killed and 215 became prisoners of war. German casualties were over 360 dead, some killed after the raid when ''Campbeltown'' exploded. To recognise their bravery, 89 decorations were awarded to members of the raiding party, including five Victoria Crosses. After the war St Nazaire was one of 38 battle honours awarded to the Commandos; the operation has since become known as ''The Greatest Raid of All ''within military circles. ==Background== St Nazaire is on the north bank of the Loire 400 km (250 miles) from the nearest British port. In 1942, it had a population of 50,000. The St Nazaire port has an outer harbour known as the Avant Port, formed by two piers jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean. This leads to two lock gates before the Bassin de St Nazaire. These gates control the water level in the basin so that it is not affected by the tide.〔 Beyond the basin is the larger inner dock called the Bassin de Penhoët, which can accommodate ships up to 10,000 tons. There is also an old entrance to the Bassin de St Nazaire located northwest of the Normandie dry dock. Built to house the ocean liner , this dock was the largest dry dock in the world when it was completed in 1932.〔 The "Old Mole" jetty juts into the Loire halfway between the southern pier of the Avant Port and the old entrance into the basin.〔Mountbatten, p. 71〕 On 24 May 1941, the Battle of the Denmark Strait was fought between the German ships and and the British ships and . ''Hood'' was sunk and the damaged ''Prince of Wales'' was forced to retire. ''Bismarck'', also damaged, ordered her consort to proceed independently while she headed for the French port of St Nazaire, which was the only port on the Atlantic coast with a dry dock able to accommodate a ship of her size. She was intercepted by the British and sunk en route.〔Ford, p. 7〕 Britain's Naval Intelligence Division first proposed a commando raid on the dock in late 1941.〔Hinsley et al., p. 192〕 When the German battleship ''Tirpitz'' was declared operational in January 1942, the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Air Force (RAF) were already drawing up plans to attack her. Planners from Combined Operations Headquarters were looking at potential scenarios if ''Tirpitz'' escaped the naval blockade and reached the Atlantic.〔Ford, p. 10〕 They decided the only port able to accommodate her was St Nazaire, especially if, like the ''Bismarck'', she was damaged en route and needed repairs. They came to the conclusion that if the dock at St Nazaire were unavailable the Germans were unlikely to risk sending ''Tirpitz'' into the Atlantic.〔 Combined Operations examined a number of options while planning the destruction of the dock. At this stage of the war the British government still tried to avoid civilian casualties. This ruled out a bombing attack by the RAF, which at the time did not possess the accuracy needed to destroy the dock without serious loss of civilian life.〔Ford, p. 13〕 The Special Operations Executive were approached to see if its agents could destroy the dock gates. They decided that the mission was beyond their capabilities because the weight of explosives required would have needed too many agents to carry them.〔Ford, p. 15〕 The Royal Navy was also unable to mount an operation, as St Nazaire is 8 km (5 miles) up the Loire estuary. Any naval ships large enough to cause sufficient damage would be detected well before they were within range.〔 The planners then examined whether a commando force was feasible to accomplish the task. An unusually high spring tide was due in March 1942 which would allow a light ship to pass over the sand banks in the estuary and approach the docks, bypassing the heavily defended dredged channel. The approach was too shallow for an infantry landing ship, but the planners believed if a destroyer could be lightened it might have a draft shallow enough to enable it to get through.〔Ford, p. 14〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「St Nazaire Raid」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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