Operation Frankton – kayaks against ships. The most amazing special operations of WW2
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SARUMAN AND KAYAKS
The Cockleshell Heroes, a British film, offers a loose and not very factual recounting of the operation. It was one of the biggest blockbusters in the UK in 1956. Today, it's mostly interesting because the submarine commander was played by Christopher Lee, aka Saruman from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
Another remarkable special operation during World War Two was Operation Frankton. It was drawn up to eliminate German ships anchored in a port in the French city of Bordeaux. What was so unusual about it? The attack was conducted by just twelve Royal Marines... in kayaks! The beginning, however, was very cinematic. The kayaks and the commandos themselves arrived near the target aboard the submarine HMS Tuna. Then, their mission was to paddle for a few nights and hide during the days, mine enemy ships, and travel to Spain on land.
On December 7, 1942, at about 2000 hours, five kayaks and their crews departed from the vicinity of the mouth of the river Gironde in the direction of Bordeaux. One of the boats was damaged while unloading, automatically excluding two commandos from action. The task was even more difficult with the wind, strong tides, and high waves. One of the kayaks disappeared without a trace. Another capsized, and its crew boarded the others to reach the nearest shore. During the first night of the cruise, three German frigates appeared nearby. Trying to lie down, the soldiers rowed quietly and somehow made their way unnoticed, but yet another boat was lost.
Rangers in the last two kayaks covered a total distance of more than 100 kilometers, paddling at night and hiding during the day. They arrived in Bordeaux on the fifth day of the operation. After dark, around 2100, the crew of Catfish, one of the kayaks, set eight minutes on four ships, miraculously avoiding detection thanks to camouflage on their boat. Another team on the Crayfish kayak did not find their targets in the east dock, so they returned to another location, setting mines on some transport units.
Their escape down the river took another six hours – the teams then disembarked and separated. Of the ten Royal Marines participating in the Frankton Operation, only two managed to reach Spain through the Pyrenees. Two died of hypothermia, and six were captured and executed by the Germans. Later, the Nazis released a report, which stated that five ships were damaged as a result of "mysterious explosions." In 2010, it was revealed that, according to the latest research, a sixth ship was most badly damaged.
