Description

The U-Boat pens at St. Nazaire, France are once again the target for this mission. This is proving to be a particularly difficult target to destroy due to its massive, reinforced concrete design. It consists of 14 individual pens connected together in a structure 300 meters long, 130 meters wide and 18 meters high composed of 480,000 cubic meters of concrete. The roof of the structure alone is 8 meters thick built with four layers: (top to bottom) 3.5 meters reinforced concrete; 35cm of granite/concrete; 1.7 meter thick reinforced concrete; and the "Fangrost" layer of steel beams 1.4 meters thick. The roof bristles with anti-aircraft weapons.



The mission is comprised of two elements: 72 B-17s are despatched by 91BG (16); 303BG (17); 305BG (22) and 306BG (17). The element is organised in the 'stagger' formation designed by Colonel Curtis LeMay, CO 305BG which will become adopted by all 8AF heavy bomber units and become the standard formation for the remainder of the war. This is the first such use of the formation. 60 aircraft of this formation are effective on the target; 7 are MIA and 44 are damaged.



The second element of the mission is comprised of 13 B-24s despatched by 44th Bomb Group. 8 are effective on the target; 3 are DBR and 3 are damaged. Both formations are carrying bomb loads of 1000 lb. General Purpose bombs.