On November 9, 194231 B-17 and 12 B-24s took off from England and attacked the German U-Poat base in Saint-Nazaire on the western coast of France.
B-17S, which fly between 7500 and 12,000 feet, faced a heavy billing. She lost three bombers, and 22 suffered damage. He attacked B-24S from 17500 to 18,300 feet and not only damaged. In general, the task has failed to destroy the pens of the heavily enhanced submarine.
The allies flew more than 2000 sorties against St. Nazer
During the war, many other Allied attacks were launched on Saint Nazer and other U-Boat bases in France. Between October 1942 and October 1943, the Eighth Air Force of the US Army More than 2000 sorties flew attacking German submarine bases in Laurent, Saint Nazer, and Breist in France and against Bremen, Imaden, agent and Welsh Halfin in Germany. Saint Nazer himself occupied 50 attacks.
A thick, enhanced brown designed to carry the bomber attacks
The sub -pens in Saint Nazer were massive. The Germans are specially designed to carry the bomber attacks. The walls were 11 feet thick, the surfaces were 16 feet thick, and in some places, it was 29 feet fish. The structure has been manufactured Granite and reinforced concrete. The base is 908 feet and 400 feet and 60 feet.
The rule was 14 pens It could carry 20 U. Pens 1 – 8 dry berths to work on submarines. The pens were 9-14 wet sidewalks and can carry U boats for each. The base also contains 150 offices, 97 storage magazines and 62 workshops.
The Germans used prisoners to work to build a U.
The German organization Todt has built the Saint-Nazaire base and others like it. For most employment, they used foreign workers, war prisoners and inmates of the camp. Todd Todd 1400,000 men used During the war to build sub -bases, bridges, debris, and roads.
The project started in the project February 1941 After the Nazis invaded France. Use approximately 4,600 workers 627,816 cubes of concrete in construction. They finished the middle part of the base in four months and completed the entire complex in June 1942.
It doubts some possibility to achieve the success of air attacks against St. Nazer
Some American leaders questioned whether the air attack on Saint Nazer may be successful. In October 1942, Gen. Karl A. General Henry H. “Hap” Arnold“If these operations will prove very expensive for the results obtained, they still have to be seen. The concrete submarine pens are difficult, and the nuts may be impossible.”
The initial bombing tasks did not succeed in destroying the pens, and the allied bombers focused on external facilities to try to disrupt the base operations.
Saint Nazer was a railway center and a port, and the allies bombed it several times, which led to nearly 500 civilian deaths and the destruction of 85 % of the city. Most of the population evacuated it by the spring of 1943.
The bombers have never succeeded in destroying the sub -pens in Saint Nazer, and they are still healthy today.
A British launched a commando attack on the accusation cage
Before we started the bombers to attack St. Nazer, the British assaulted this in March 1942 Vehicle. Instead of attacking sub -pens, they wanted to destroy the large dry berth used in surface ships.
The Germans built a TRPITZ warship and planned to deploy it against the allied shipping in the Atlantic Ocean. They wanted to complete the dry pavement facility in the Saint-Nazaire and use it as a support base for prevention. In early 1942, Turpitz was in Norway, and the Germans decided to keep there until the saint became ready. The British knew this and planned to attack the base.
For the “vehicle” process, the British plan was a ship package, HMS Campbeltown, with a lot of high explosives and taste in the doors of the dry sidewalk. A commando on board the ship will leave the ship and attack the base. Then the explosives explode and destroy the gate, leaving what remains from the ship stuck there, and prevents the elbow.
The British attack leaves Drydock to be useless for the remainder of the war
The raid succeeded, More than 400 Germans were killed And make the dry sidewalk unusable for the rest of the war. The Germans have never published Turpitz in the Atlantic Ocean, which undoubtedly saved many lives and allowed valuable connections to reach Europe. Despite the success of the Cariot operation, Air Power has again failed to destroy the Saint-Nazaire. As part of the mission, the British launched an attacking attack to try to attract the German attention away from the dry sidewalk.
The bombers only managed to alert the Germans that something is happening. As a result, the German commanders did not surprise the Germans. Of the two hundred and forty kumandos participated in the mission, 59 were killed, and 109 were arrested. In addition, 85 members of the Royal Navy were killed, with 29 Germans.