Postby John110547 » Tue Feb 03, 2026 9:09 am
Hi Jonathant
Only one division of the 7th ML Flotilla was used on Operation Chariot (MLs 177, 156, 160, 270)
The following are the activities of ML 177 from 1/1/42 to 28/3/42:
• MLs 177, 153, 155, 156, 157, 159, 160, 270 (7th ML Flotilla) on 1 January 1942 were at Dartmouth.
• MLs 177, 153, 155, 156, 157, 159, 160, 270 (7th ML Flotilla) on 4 January 1942 were at Dartmouth.
• MLs 177, 153, 155, 156, 157, 159, 160, 270 (7th ML Flotilla) on 18 January 1942 were at Dartmouth.
• MLs 177, 153, 155, 156, 157, 159, 160, 270 (7th ML Flotilla) on 1 February 1942 were at Dartmouth.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 270 (7th ML Flotilla), MLs 192, 262, 267, 268 (20th ML Flotilla), MLs 298, 306, 307, 341, 443, 446, 447, 457 (28th ML Flotilla), MTB 074(2) & MGB 314 in February 1942 were selected with the three destroyers HMS CAMPBELTOWN, ATHERSTONE & TYNDALE to participate in Operation Chariot. The operation was conceived to put the Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire, France, out of commission & thus deny the enemy access to the only Atlantic seaboard dock capable of taking battleships and battlecruisers. The operation was planned to take place on 28 March 1942, & command of it was entrusted to Commander R.E.D. Ryder for the naval forces & Lieutenant Colonel A.C. Newman from the Essex Regiment, attached to No 2 Commando for the military force. To ensure the operation's security, all Coastal Forces vessels participating were collectively referred to as the 10th Antisubmarine Striking Force. This force consisted of eighteen vessels, which included MGB 314, which was designated as boat No.0 & the Headquarters boat for the 10th Antisubmarine Striking Force. MTB 074(2), which was designated as boat No.17 & was the backup vessel for HMS CAMPBELTOWN. The rest of the Coastal Force boats were split into the 1st & 10th A.S.F 2nd Divisions of the 10th Antisubmarine Striking Force; the 10th A.S.F 1st Division consisted of MLs 192 (No.1 Boat), 262 (No.2 Boat), 267 (No.3 Boat), 268 (No.4 Boat), 156 (No.5 Boat), 177 (No.6 Boat), 270 (No.7 Boat) & 160 (No.8 Boat) & the 10th A.S.F 2nd Division consisted of MLs 447 (No.9 Boat), 341 (No.10 Boat), 457 (No.11 Boat), 307 (No.12 Boat), 443 (No.13 Boat), 306 (No.14 Boat), 446 (No.15 Boat) & 298 (No.16 Boat). The destroyers HMS ATHERSTONE & TYNEDALE would accompany the raiding force to St Nazaire but would not enter the Loire River. HMS CAMPBELTOWN was to be the blockship that would ram the Normandie dry dock gates before exploding, rendering the dry dock unusable.
• MLs 177, 153, 155, 156, 157, 159, 160, 270 (7th ML Flotilla) on 181 February 1942 were at Dartmouth.
• ML 177 on 1 March 1942 arrived at one of three boatyards (Southampton, Poole, or Appledore), as did the rest of the 10th Antisubmarine Striking Force MLs, to undergo modification. These modifications included installing two 500-gallon fuel tanks on the boats' upper decks, extending their range to 450 miles and enabling them to participate in Operation Chariot. These upper deck fuel tanks would be filled with seawater before the actual raid commenced. Additionally, each ML underwent other modifications to enhance protection & to ensure it had the appropriate armaments suitable for the boat mission. ML 177 (No. 6 Boat, 10th A.S.F 1st Division) was to be armed with one 3pdr gun, one twin Lewis guns & two stripped Lewis guns, which were fitted with anti-aircraft sights & oversized magazines that held 97 rounds & was to be positioned in the starboard column behind HMS CAMPBELTOWN. Note: For security reasons, rumours were started around Southampton, Poole & Appledore that these boats were being modified to become ships bound for the Far East.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division) on 12 March 1942 arrived at Falmouth pm to join the rest of the 10th Antisubmarine Striking Force (10th A.S.F). The cover story, which was circulated in Falmouth, was that the MLs of the 10th Antisubmarine Striking Force were training for a new role involving long-range patrols overseas. To add credibility to the story, the boat crews were issued tropical kits.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division) & MLs 298, 306, 307, 341, 443, 446, 447, 457 (10th A.S.F 2nd Division) on 13 March 1942 carried out sea exercise including manoeuvring in convoy. Lieutenant L Fenton commanded ML 156, which had a crew of eleven of all ranks & was the No.5 boat in the 10th A.S.F 1st Division, stationed in the starboard column behind HMS CAMPBELTOWN. ML 156's primary task was to land Captain Hooper with fifteen Commandos of all ranks on the Old Entrance so they could assault the guns between Old Mole & Old Entrance before becoming part of the Reserve Team. Following the landing, ML 156 was to act independently to disrupt the enemy, pick up any Commandos after the attack, & making its way back out to sea to rendezvous with the destroyer escorts HMS ATHERSTONE & TYNDALE. Later that day, the converted Belgian cross-channel ferry LSI HMS PRINCESS JOSEPHINE CHARLOTTE arrived at Falmouth carrying a military force, which included one hundred & seventy-three men from No.2 Commando, ninety-two men with experience in demolition, drawn from No.1, No.2, No.3, No.4, No.5, No.9 & No.12 Commando, & a number of support personnel who were not going on the raid.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division) & MLs 298, 306, 307, 341, 443, 446, 447, 457 (10th A.S.F 2nd Division) on 14 March 1942 departed Falmouth at dusk & carried out manoeuvring exercises. At 23.00hrs, the MLs returned to Falmouth & practised manoeuvring alongside the quays in the dock areas.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division) & MLs 298, 306, 307, 341, 443, 446, 447, 457 (10th A.S.F 2nd Division) on 15 March 1942 at 21.00hrs, an exercise of landing Commandos in the Falmouth dock area commenced & finished at 23.00hrs.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division) & MLs 298, 306, 307, 341, 443, 446, 447, 457 (10th A.S.F 2nd Division) on 16 March 1942 embarked Commandos & at 09.00hrs, departed Falmouth for an extended cruise. During daylight hours, carried exercises & at night, carried formation manoeuvring.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division) & MLs 298, 306, 307, 341, 443, 446, 447, 457 (10th A.S.F 2nd Division) on 17 March 1942 at 22.00hrs, returned to Falmouth following day & night exercises.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division) on 19 March 1942 were at Falmouth.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division), MLs 298, 306, 307, 341, 443, 446, 447, 457 (10th A.S.F 2nd Division), MGB 314 & MTB 074(2) on 20 March 1942 were at Falmouth.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division), MLs 298, 306, 307, 341, 443, 446, 447, 457 (10th A.S.F 2nd Division), MGB 314 & MTB 074(2) on 21 March 1942 in the afternoon, they departed Falmouth with their allotted troops to take part in the well-publicised training exercise, ‘Operation Vivid’, which involved the Home Guard & Civil Defence Forces at Devonport dockyard. Note: The submarine HMS STURGEON was used during the exercises as a navigational beacon off the end of the swept channel.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division), MLs 298, 306, 307, 341, 443, 446, 447, 457 (10th A.S.F 2nd Division), MGB 314 & MTB 074(2) on 22 March 1942 departed Devonport dockyard & arrived back at Falmouth at 04.00hrs.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division), MLs 298, 306, 307, 341, 443, 446, 447, 457 (10th A.S.F 2nd Division), MGB 314 & MTB 074(2) on 23 March 1942 carried out a night exercise of landing troops in Falmouth docks. HMS ATHERSTONE & TYNEDALE arrived at Falmouth.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division) & MGB 314 on 24 March 1942 as the 10th A.S.F 1st Division carried out sleeve-firing. Note: HMS CAMPBELTOWN arrived at Falmouth.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division) & MGB 314 on 25 March 1942 carried out storing in preparation for Operation Chariot. Note: HMS CAMPBELTOWN arrived at Falmouth & that night, seventy-nine Commandos & accompanied by the newspaper journalist Gordon Holmen from the Exchange Telegraph, transferred from LSI HMS PRINCESS JOSEPHINE CHARLOTTE to HMS CAMPBELTOWN; a number of supernumeraries were left on HMS PRINCESS JOSEPHINE & told to move around above deck, so it looked as if the troops were still onboard.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division), MLs 298, 306, 307, 341, 443, 446, 447, 457 (10th A.S.F 2nd Division), MGB 314 & MTB 074(2) on 26 March 1942 were at Falmouth. At 09.30hrs, the 10th Antisubmarine Striking Force & the three destroyers (HMS CAMPBELTOWN, ATHERSTONE, & TYNDALE) all received the signal ‘PREPARATION CHARIOT’, which was the signal to commence the final preparation for Operation Chariot. This included preparing MGB 314 & MTB 074(2) to be taken in tow by the destroyers HMS ATHERSTONE & CAMPBELTOWN; also, one hundred & eighty-six Commandos, accompanied by the newspaper journalist Ted Gilling from the Exchange Telegraph, were transferred to their nominated MLs. At 12.30 hrs, all vessels received the signal ‘CARRY OUT CHARIOT’, which signalled the raiding to prepare to sail. At 13.45 hrs, Lieutenant Commander Wood, commanding the 10th A.S.F 1st Division (Port Column) & the commanding officer of ML 447, reported sick with appendicitis. Immediately, the next senior officer, Lieutenant Platt, the commanding officer of ML 443, was transferred to command the 10th A.S.F 1st Division (Port Column) & ML 447; Lieutenant Horlock was brought in to take over command of ML 443. At 14.00hrs, the destroyers HMS CAMPBELTOWN, towing MTB 074(2), HMS ATHERSTONE, towing MGB 314 & HMS TYNDALE departed Falmouth with the 10th Antisubmarine Striking Force (sixteen MLs), who on departing the harbour, took up their antisubmarine protection formation (two cables apart) ahead of the destroyers to simulate an antisubmarine sweep just in case the enemy was observing them. At 19.11hrs, the raiding force reported being at turning position ‘A’ & heading south, deep into the Bay of Biscay, as all the MLs formed the outer line on either side of the destroyers, the 10th A.S.F 1st Division was on the starboard side & consisted of MLs 192 (No.1 Boat), 262 (No.2 Boat), 267 (No.3 Boat), 268 (No.4 Boat), 156 (No.5 Boat), 177 (No.6 Boat), 270 (No.7 Boat) & 160 (No.8 Boat) & the 10th A.S.F 2nd Division was on the port side consisted of MLs 447 (No.9 Boat), 341 (No.10 Boat), 457 (No.11 Boat), 307 (No.12 Boat), 443 (No.13 Boat), 306 (No.14 Boat), 446 (No.15 Boat) & 298 (No.16 Boat). At 23.00 hrs, the raiding force reported it was at position ‘B’ & still heading south.
• MLs 177, 156, 160, 192, 262, 267, 268, 270 (10th A.S.F 1st Division) & MLs 298, 306, 307, 341, 443, 446, 447, 457 (10th A.S.F 2nd Division) on 27 March 1942 were escorting the destroyers HMS CAMPBELTOWN, towing MTB 074(2), HMS ATHERSTONE, towing MGB 314 & HMS TYNDALE were heading south on Operation Chariot. At 02.30hrs, the raiding force reported to be on course & still heading south. At 07.00 hrs, the raiding force was reported to be at position ‘C’, 160 miles west of St Nazaire, & headed southeast. At 07.10hrs, a sharp-eyed gunner on the HMS TYNEDALE noticed an object on the surface off their portside, which they went to investigate. The object turned out to be the German submarine U-593, which had been damaged & heading for repairs at St. Nazaire. HMS TYNEDALE, flying the German ensign, was five miles from the submarine, U 593, when they fired a recognition signal, which was replied to with five long flashes, which appeared to satisfy them. The German submarine continued on the surface until 07.45hrs, when HMS TYNEDALE broke out their White Ensign & at 5,000 yards, fired several salvoes at the U-593, forcing the U-boat to crash-dive. At 07.58hrs, HMS TYNEDALE dropped several depth charges & forced U-593 to the surface; the U-boat was hit several times & seen to list heavily to port for a few seconds before disappearing below the waves. HMS ATHERSTONE joined HMS TYNEDALE in hunting the German submarine until 09.20hrs, when both destroyers altered course southwest & rejoined the raiding force at 09.45hrs, where HMS ATHERSTONE took MGB 314 back in tow. (Note: U 593 remained submerged till 13.47hrs when it surfaced & reported that at 06.20hrs, it had sighted three destroyers & ten MTBs on a westerly course. The German Group Command West picked up this report & assumed that it was either a British minelaying force withdrawing after completing a minelaying operation or a British MTB force being transferred to Gibraltar. At 11.00hrs, the raiding force sighted two French trawlers; HMS ATHERSTONE was sent to investigate the French trawler on the port side, while MGB 314 went to investigate the fishing boat on the starboard side. By 11.45hrs, both fishing boats had been boarded, their crews taken off, & sank. By 12.40hrs, MGB 314 had returned to the raiding force & transferred the crew of the French trawler to one of the escort destroyers. At 12.40hrs, the raiding force received a signal from C in C Portsmouth stating that the five German torpedo boats previously reported at St Nazire had now been located at Nantes. At 17.18hrs, a further signal from C in C Portsmouth reported that the five German torpedo boats had reappeared in the neighbourhood of St Nazaire. C in C Portsmouth had dispatched the destroyers HMS CLEVELAND & BROCKLESBY to join the raiding force at full speed. At 18.00 hrs, Commander Ryder & Colonel Newman were transferred from HMS ATHERSTONE to MGB 314. Once the senior officers & their respective parties were on board, MGB 314 slipped its tow from HMS ATHERSTONE, & at approximately the same time, MTB 074(2) slipped its tow from HMS CAMPBELTOWN. At 21.00hrs, ML 341 reported having an engine problem & was forced to transfer its complement of Commandos to ML 446. ML 466 took over the ML 341 position & was now responsible for landing Captain Hodgson with fifteen Commandos of all ranks on the Old Mole so they could assault two flak positions on the east Jetty & form a protection line facing the landward end of the East Jetty. ML 341 limped back to Falmouth. At 22.05hrs, the raiding force had reached position ‘E’, seventy-five miles from St Nazaire. At this point, the Raiding Force adopted its attack formation. In front of the HMS CAMPBELTOWN were ML 270 (Port), MGB 314 (Centre) & ML 160 (Starboard), with boats from the 10th A.S.F 1st Division on the HMS CAMPBELTOWN starboard side & boats from the 10th A.S.F 2nd Division on the HMS CAMPBELTOWN port side. Behind HMS CAMPBELTOWN were ML 298 & MTB 074(2). The escort destroyers took up a screen position to the side of the raiding force as they headed towards point ‘Z’ & the submarine HMS STURGEON with its positioning beacons. At 22.00hrs, as the raiding force passed point ‘Z’, HMS STURGEON's light flashed intermittently, with the signal letter ‘M’. At 22.15hrs, HMS ATHERSTONE & TYNDALE parted company with the raiding force & sailed northeast to establish a patrol line near the retrieval point. As the Raiding Force headed towards position ‘T’, the HMS STURGEON beacon was extinguished as the submarine dived below the waves. At 23:30hrs, five RAF bomber squadrons (35 Whitleys & 27 Wellingtons) began their bombing runs on St Nazaire, which should have lasted 60 minutes. Still, their orders were to bomb only clearly identified military targets & only drop one bomb at a time. With cloud cover over the port & poor weather conditions, only four aircraft dropped bombs on St Nazaire & six aircraft managed to bomb other nearby targets. This air raid was entirely out of character for the RAF & immediately raised German suspicions that something else was happening.
• MLs 177 (No.6 Boat), 156 (No.5 Boat), 160 (No.8 Boat), 192 (No.1 Boat), 262 (No.2 Boat), 267 (No.3 Boat), 268 (No.4 Boat), 270 (No.7 Boat) (10th A.S.F 1st Division) & MLs 298 (No.16 Boat), 306 (No.14 Boat), 307 (No.12 Boat), 341 (No.10 Boat), 443 (No.13 Boat), 446 (No.10 Boat), 447 (No.9 Boat), 457 (No.11 Boat) (10th A.S.F 2nd Division), MGB 314 (No.0 Boat) & MTB 074(2) (No.17 Boat) with HMS CAMPBELTOWN on 28 March 1942 were in boat number formation, en route to St Nazaire. At 00.25hrs, the Raiding Force was 11 miles from the target as they passed the wreck of the troopship LANCASTRIA, which had been sunk in 1940. At 00.45hrs, the Raiding Force was 7.5 miles from the target in the vicinity of Le Chatelier Shoal when HMS CAMPBELTOWN ran aground but easily freed itself. At 00.55hrs, HMS CAMPBELTOWN once again ran aground but quickly freed itself as MGB 314 was manoeuvred in front of HMS CAMPBELTOWN & commenced taking soundings & obtaining RDF readings. At 01.25 hrs, the raiding Force was only 2 miles from the target when it was lit up as they passed the Les Morées light tower. However, at 01.22hrs, a searchlight from No. 3, Heavy Coastal Battery, was switched on down the Charpentier Channel, followed by all the searchlights on both banks of the river. MGB 314 made a bogus identity signal in German that they were “proceeding up the harbour in accordance with instructions” to the shore signal station at La Ville es Martin, & shortly afterwards, all the searchlights were switched off. They were 1.5 miles from the target when they received another challenge accompanied by indiscriminate flak gunfire from the South Entrance of the docks. MGB 314 responded with the same previous bogus identity signal & received the response, ‘WAIT’. MGB 314 then sent a second signal in long, plain language, which they prefixed with the word URGENT, two craft, damaged by enemy action, request permission to proceed to harbour without delay’ & received the response, ‘WAIT’ & came under heavier gunfire from the north bank HMS CAMPBELTOWN & MGB 314 responded with the signal ‘ Ship being fired upon by friendly forces. The raiding force was now only eight minutes from the target & this deception provided four priceless minutes before the Germans recognised that the Raiding Force was, in fact, hostile. A flak guard ship directly ahead of the Raiding Force opened fire, to which MGB 314 responded by plastering the German ship with gunfire from one end to the other, silencing the ship, as enemy gunners opened fire with their 20mm, 40mm & 88mm guns. MGB 314 increased speed ahead of HMS CAMPBELTOWN, passed about 200 yards off the Old Mole, & then steered off to starboard to allow HMS CAMPBELTOWN to continue towards its target. At 01.34 hrs, HMS CAMPBELTOWN struck the dock gates & lodged itself 36ft into the buckling gates, only four minutes behind schedule. ML 177 (No.6 Boat) skilfully manoeuvred around the burning ML wreckage & pulled alongside the jetty & successfully landed its Commandos when it was hit by gunfire. ML 177 (No.6 Boat) moved away from the jetty & drew alongside HMS CAMPBELTOWN to take off many of its crew, some of whom were wounded. ML 177 (No.6 Boat) began its run down the River Loire towards the estuary with almost 50 people on board, with all guns firing. They had nearly cleared the estuary when a shell hit their engine room & the boat came to a stop. ML 177 (No.6 Boat) then became illuminated by searchlights when a second shell hit, starting a fire in the galley, which quickly spread amidships as the decision was made to abandon the ship. ML 177 broke in half, with its bow & stern rising clear of the water before slowly sinking with the loss of 4-crew members, but the survivors in the water were rescued four hours later by a German-armed trawler. The St Nazaire raid was deemed a success. HMS CAMPBELLTOWN exploded 8.5 hours after it rammed the drydock gates, killing over 250 German Sailors & Soldiers & putting the Drydock out of action until 1947, but success came at a very high cost. Out of the seventeen boats of the 10th Antisubmarine Striking Force & 622 sailors & commandos that attacked St Nazaire, which was held by a German force of over 5,000 naval & military personnel, only three boats & 239 men returned to England (168 Killed & 215 were taken as prisoners of war). On 30 March 1942 at 16.30hrs, the delayed fuse torpedoes fired by MTB 074(2) exploded at the old entrance into the basin, causing alarm among both the Germans & the civilians in the area. The Todt Organisation workers ran away from the dock area & German soldiers mistook their khaki uniforms for British Commandos & opened fire, killing some of them. Also, the Germans thought that British commandos could still be hiding in the town, so they carried out a street-by-street search, killing any townsperson who looked suspicious. Note: In recognition of their achievements, eighty-nine decorations for bravery were awarded, which included four Victoria Crosses, four Distinguished Service Orders, four Conspicuous Gallantry Medals, five Distinguished Conduct Medals, seventeen Distinguished Service Crosses, eleven Military Crosses, twenty-four Distinguished Service Medals, fifteen Military Medals, four Croix de Guerre & another fifty-one were mentioned in dispatches. On ML 177 (No.6 Boat), Able Seaman Miller was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal; Able Seaman Mitchell & Able Seaman Rushworth were Mentioned in Dispatches.
After Operation Chariot, in April 1942, the 7th ML Flotilla received additional boats & the flotilla that consisted of MLs 118(1), 153, 156, 157, 159, 160, 304 & 491.
Hope this helps.
Best regards
John