In 1942 the British commandos blew up the "Normandie" dock (where the ocean liner SS Normandie was constructed, and also known as the "Joubert dock") during "Operation Chariot", a raid which incurred significant losses to succeed. This was apparently to prevent the Tirpitz from having a drydock in occupied France if it sortied into the Atlantic.
But besides the "Normandie" dock, there was also the "Jean Bart" dock (also known as the "Caquot dock"), where the French fast battleship Jean Bart was constructed. The dimensions of the Jean Bart dock would seem to be accommodating for Tirpitz.
Why was the Jean Bart dock not targeted? Was there some reason it could not serve to repair Tirpitz? Surely the planners of the commando raid were aware of the attributes of the Jean Bart dock, so what did they know that I don't know? I have found this document (https://maisondelamer.fr/wp-content/upl ... ADOUB-.pdf) about the history of docks in Saint-Nazaire, but it is predictably in French. I'm not confident google translate is good enough for technical subtleties, but as far as I can tell it doesn't answer the question either.
But besides the "Normandie" dock, there was also the "Jean Bart" dock (also known as the "Caquot dock"), where the French fast battleship Jean Bart was constructed. The dimensions of the Jean Bart dock would seem to be accommodating for Tirpitz.
Why was the Jean Bart dock not targeted? Was there some reason it could not serve to repair Tirpitz? Surely the planners of the commando raid were aware of the attributes of the Jean Bart dock, so what did they know that I don't know? I have found this document (https://maisondelamer.fr/wp-content/upl ... ADOUB-.pdf) about the history of docks in Saint-Nazaire, but it is predictably in French. I'm not confident google translate is good enough for technical subtleties, but as far as I can tell it doesn't answer the question either.
statistics: Posted by AnthonyRainey — 11:43 PM - 1 day ago — Replies 4 — Views 153