History's Raiders

The St Nazaire Raid 1942 (1x17)

Air date: Sep 23, 2001

The great dry dock at the French port of St Nazaire was the only facility on the Atlantic coast of Nazi-occupied Europe which could accommodate Germany's giant battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz. On March 28th, 1942, the British navy sailed a destroyer packed with explosive into the dock gates. When this blew up the next day, it put the dock out of action for the rest of the World War 2.