St. Nazaire

Submarine Pens

attacked by Commandos from HMS Campbelltown in W.W.2.
Campbeltown Photo 'borrowed' from internet of HMS Campbelltown rammed into outer Lock gates at entrance to Submarine Pens at St. Nazaire. Germans did not discover hidden explosives on board which later blew ship and Lock gates to pieces. OuterLock Modern outer lockgates view from inner lockgates. InnerLock003 Inner lockgates leading to pens. pen002 Side wall of Submarine Pens a massive concrete building which took 2 years to build, mainly slave labour.
Middle02 This, East end and next two photos cover the length of the Pens. Pen008 Centre section. Middle03 West section the amount of concrete involved was huge. Pen006 view inside a Pen.
Pen004 Again inside a Pen but looking out to the Town. Bus is about 40feet long so gives an idea of how wide a structure one Pen is. Pen007 Looking towards a double Pen on opposite side. Pen003 Looking from west end of pens towards the east. Pen001 Just a huge concrete Fortress.
Mem02 Memorial to British Service men who died taking part in the raid on St. Nazaire. Mem01 just over 200 men survived out of 600. SwingLock We had to wait until the Boat in the photo cleared the lock before ........ Swing001 this swingbridge appeared to let us cross to the next area.
BlastDoor Large original blast door. Sub04 A bit awkward to get a decent photo but this is the French Submarine Swordfish in a Pen. Sub02 Conning Tower of the ESPADON (Swordfish) in 1962 first French Submarine to surface at the North Pole.We did have a tour of the inside you need to be special to serve in such a Boat. Sub03 Never saw active service in a war and as we have found often as we travel around exhibits are not well presented, this one really needs a paint.
Sub01 Rear of Submarine diving planes still attached but unfortunatelythe whole thing looked shabby on the outside. Still it is a lot larger than the last one we were on in Denmark. Bridge01 We had to cross this 3km bridge over the Loire on route from the Campsite to St Nazaire. LargeShip St Nazaire is still a busy Port where they still have a ship building industry. Dock01 All these vessels float as long as nobody lets the water out of the lockgates by accident.
Launch01 Our new mode of transport being readied for launch :-) launch06 Crane taking the strain. launch07 Up she goes. Launch004 Careful don't drop her!
Launch003 Ready to go, if you have a spare €100,000 you to can have one. mast Now that has to be a scary job.