During the war there was a daring raid on what was called the "Normandie" Dock in the port of Saint-Nazaire. This was a key port for the German occupying forces. An operation was mounted whereby HMS Campbelltown was used to put the dock out of action. Saint-Nazaire was where the Bismarck was heading when she was finally disabled and sunk. The famous French transatlantic liner, "Normandie", was a huge vessel, and the dry dock was created for its maintenance and refit. This was, therefore, the only dry dock capable of accepting the huge German battleships, Bismarck and Tirpitz if they were damaged whilst in the Atlantic Ocean. Knowing this, the British operation was organised in order to restrict the activities of the Tirpitz which was then holed up in a Norwegian Fjord.
The plan was to sail the Campbelltown into the dock gates where she would be stuck. A huge pile of explosives was also carried in her bow and would be exploded once she was wedged in the gates. She did explode, albeit much later than planned, and the operation achieved its ends. Many lives were lost in this raid and many servicemen were taken prisoner. Some did get home safely.
Another feature of this great port was the block of fourteen U-boat pens constructed of concrete and able to withstand very heavy bombardment. We decided to go along and see what remained of this massive building. It was easy to find because of its size. It remains complete. It is an eerie experience to walk around this massive construction. There is no charge and there is plenty of parking. We were impressed when we visited.
There were facilities for visitors with a café, bar etc and there was also a number of attractions added in recent years. We opted to visit the museum about transatlantic sailing. The whole place was a mock up of a typical liner. There were corridors with various cabins we could visit. We were able to see the difference between first class cabins and the rest. Much original furniture was on view that we were asked not too touch. At one point there was a video presentation on a huge screen depicting the growth of sea travel around the world from French ports. It was viewed as if we were standing at the stern of the liner with the wake spreading out away from us. The next video experience was a typical view through 24 hours from the promenade deck. Other ships passed, dolphins came diving past the vessel, seals were there and even an iceberg. The third presentation was set as a view from the bridge. We experienced day and night, dense fog with the ship's whistle sounding, and a terrible storm with huge waves. The accompanying sound really added atmosphere!
All in all it was worth the visit. We visited the souvenir shop and bought one or two things to remind us of our visit. Then we went back to the car and headed for Pointe de St Gildas where we had gallettes for lunch.
The route to Saint-Nazaire took us over a huge bridge crossing the Loire estuary. From here we could see the vast shipyards in which two cruise liners were under construction, one being the MSC Meraviglia which will be finished in 2017 for MSC in Italy . Not far away is an Airbus factory too. Saint-Nazaire is certainly a place of employment!
We finished our day with another cracking meal at Villa Noe!
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