Largest naval raid

On 28 March 1942, during WW2, Operation Chariot, which has been described as the greatest naval raid of all time, was launched.  The aim was to destroy the Normandie dock in St Nazaire, France.  HMS Campbletown, a 1090 ton destroyer of the Royal Navy was stripped out to reduce her draught for transit through the shallow waters to the dock and the bows were packed with four and a half tons of high explosive attached to delayed fuzes.  At 0134 hrs, the ship rammed the dock gates and her explosives blew up at 1135 hours destroying the dock putting it out of action until 1948.  As a result of the explosions, 360 Germans were killed and 169 allied personnel lost their lives, 215 were captured and 227 returned to the UK.