The U-boat Pens in Sainte Nazaire
Today I visited Saint Nazaire, which before WW2 was a new and modern port. With its basin dating from 1856 and lock gates into the basin, it could accommodate ships easily and became the gateway to South America for many ocean liners, emigres and trade.
During WW2 the Germans needed a jump off point into the Atlantic so they built a U-boat base here. With the forced labour of over 160,000 men, the first pens were finished by late 1941 and by 1943 it was finalised with 14 pens that could also be used as dry-docks. With a protected lock leading to the sea, it was formidable, and by the war's end the town was virtually eliminated by allied bombing, with only the U-boat pens left standing amidst the rubble.
6 of the pens could hold two U-boats each, while 8 were narrower and could hold only one. At the back of the pens were the weapons, stores and machine shops to keep the submarines operational.
Opposite the pens, in what used to be the protected lock, sits the French Submarine Espadon. A Diesel/Electric submarine, it was launched in 1958 and retired from service in 1986. Knowing what UK submarines of this era were like, the French Submarines are completely different so I found it very interesting to see the differences. This is the second French Submarine I've visited and I thought they were very advanced in their layouts compared to ours.
It was also at the southern end of the docks that in 1942 HMS Campbeltown, packed with explosives, was rammed into the lock gates. Pretending to be a commando raid, the ship blew up the following day causing a lot of damage to the lock and the dockside.
