对圣纳泽尔的袭击在历史上被认为是有史以来最大胆的突击队袭击之一。代号为“战车行动”的这次行动发生在1942年3月28日星期六凌晨，是皇家海军和英国突击队的联合行动。
圣纳泽尔港位于卢瓦尔河口和大西洋上，有一个干船坞，可以容纳一些德国最大的军舰，如俾斯麦号或蒂尔皮茨号。通过让港口停止运转，需要进行的任何维修或维护工作都必须在德国布雷默黑文港的国内进行。要做到这一点，德国船只必须在英吉利海峡或北海水域航行，这两次航行都可能引起英国皇家海军母舰的注意。
一支由612名官兵组成的突袭部队从法尔茅斯集结并派遣，乘坐过时的英国驱逐舰HMS Campbeltown和18艘汽艇进行突袭。当时的想法是将驱逐舰撞向圣纳泽尔干船坞的外门，并使其尽可能长时间停止行动。这次突袭取得了成功，但也付出了代价：在出发的人中，169人被杀，另有215人被捕。只有3艘汽艇和228名男子逃脱并返回英国。
在圣纳泽尔的行动中，许多勇敢的人全力以赴，以至于89名参与突袭的人获得了英勇勋章，其中5人获得了维多利亚十字勋章。
St Nazaire Raid, 1942
The raid on St Nazaire has gone down in history as one of the most daring commando raids of all time. Given the code name of Operation Chariot, it took place in the early hours of Saturday, 28 March 1942, and was a joint undertaking by the Royal Navy and British Commando units.
The port at St Nazaire, which sits on the Loire estuary and the Atlantic Ocean, has a dry dock that was capable of accommodating some of Germany’s biggest naval vessels, such as the Bismarck, or the Tirpitz. By putting the port out of action, any repairs or maintenance work that needed to be carried out would instead have to be undertaken back home at the German port of Bremerhaven. To do this, the German vessels would either have to navigate the waters of the English Channel or the North Sea, with both journeys potentially bringing them to the attention of the Home Fleet of the Royal Navy.
A raiding force of 612 officers and men were assembled and dispatched from Falmouth to carry out the raid, sailing on board the obsolete British destroyer HMS Campbeltown, along with 18 Motor Launches. The idea was to ram the destroyer in to the outer gates of the dry dock at St Nazaire and put it out of action for as long as possible. The raid was a success, but came at a price: of those who set out, 169 were killed whilst a further 215 were captured. Only 3 Motor Launches and 228 men escaped and made the return journey back to the UK.
Many brave men gave it their all during the action at St Nazaire, to such an extent that 89 of those who took part in the raid were awarded decorations for bravery, including 5 who were awarded the Victoria Cross.
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