Military Operations

Operation Chariot

Modern

Citation Formats

General Reference

War and Military Atlas. "Operation Chariot." Accessed September 8, 2026. https://military.interactiveatlas.org/military-operations/operation-chariot.

APA Style

War and Military Atlas. (n.d.). Operation Chariot. Retrieved September 8, 2026, from https://military.interactiveatlas.org/military-operations/operation-chariot

BibTeX

@misc{warandmilitaryatlas-operation-chariot,
  author = {War and Military Atlas},
  title = {Operation Chariot},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://military.interactiveatlas.org/military-operations/operation-chariot},
  note = {Accessed September 8, 2026}
}

Operation Chariot, the St Nazaire Raid, was a British amphibious assault on 28 March 1942 against the Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire, France, then the only Atlantic dock large enough to service the German battleship Tirpitz. The obsolete destroyer HMS Campbeltown, packed with delayed-action explosives, was rammed into the dock gate while Commandos landed to destroy supporting infrastructure; the ship's hidden charges detonated later that day, wrecking the dock for the remainder of the war.

Facts

Operation Type

Special-forces raid (amphibious sabotage) 1

Start Date

1942-03-28 1

End Date

1942-03-28 1

Location

St Nazaire, German-occupied France 1

Participants

Royal Navy (HMS Campbeltown and escort flotilla), No. 2 Commando and Special Service Brigade troops, Royal Air Force diversionary bombers 1

Objective

Destroy the Normandie dry dock to deny the German battleship Tirpitz an Atlantic repair facility 1

Outcome

The dock was destroyed and remained out of service until 1948; of 612 participants, 169 were killed and 215 captured, with only 228 returning to England 1

Cross-Tradition Connections