The game was on.

MGB 314 and ML 160 traded fire with the shoreline guns, while ML 270 attacked the searchlights illuminating Campbeltown. The German fire slackened, picked up again, and the flotilla began to take casualties. MLs burst into flames as German shells ruptured their fuel tanks, and burning fuel spilled across the water. Near the outer harbor, the guard ship Sperrbrecher poured intense fire on the flotilla, while in reply, MGB 314 raked her bow to stern as she swept past. The German gunners singled out Campbeltown and her main gun was hit, killing the crew and the commandos around it. On the bridge, Beattie calmly ordered, “Stand by to ram,” then Campbeltown ripped through the anti-torpedo net in front of the Normandie Dock at 20 knots and smashed into the gate. It was 0134. Campbeltown was just 4 minutes behind the planned time of collision.

The other Campbeltown assault team, already down to 10 fighting men, destroyed four gun emplacements and a string of oil tanks, then waited for the signal to withdraw.

Campbeltown was firmly embedded in the dock gate; Beattie began to evacuate his crew. The battle around the destroyer was still raging. The protection and demolition teams of Group Three went over the bows and raced for their respective targets; the key mission – destroy the pumps and switchgear that controlled the filling and draining of the dry dock. Even if the Campbeltown explosives didn’t detonate, the destruction of the pumps would put the dock out of commission for months. Below decks, the Campbeltown’s crew opened the sea cocks to scuttle her.

Quickly heading for the German gun positions, Group Three came under a withering fire and began taking casualties. The port assault team sprinted to their objective, the 20 mm guns on top of the pumping station, and blew up the guns. They then turned to take and hold a key position, “Bridge G,” which was Group Three’s way to the reembarkation point on the Old Mole. The other Campbeltown assault team, already down to 10 fighting men, destroyed four gun emplacements and a string of oil tanks, then waited for the signal to withdraw.

MGB 314, having landed Newman and Ryder, moved to pick up Campbeltown’s crew. The other protection and demolition teams closed on their targets, all suffering increasing casualties. At the northern end of the dock, six men were killed by fire from ships inside the drydock, while another was killed storming one of these ships and silencing its guns. The time fuses on Campbeltown were ticking, Group Three had done its job; but Groups One and Two were running into disaster.

The River Loire was ablaze with burning fuel, and German fire from shore positions and gunboats were cutting the attack force to pieces. The guard ship Sperrbrecher, which MGB 314 had shot up earlier, leapt back into action, shooting up the rest of the MLs as they came upriver to unload. Group One, in the port column, was supposed to land its commandos at the Old Mole, which would also be the de-embarkation point. ML 477 came under heavy fire and her engine room was set alight. ML 457 managed to reach the Old Mole and land its commando party – the only successful landing on the Old Mole. ML 307 came under heavy fire just as it passed the Old Mole and its commander pulled out, its crew trying to rescue men from ML 447.

The fire was murderous, with blazing fuel, debris, and the burning hulks of MLs now littering the river. In the confusion, ML 443 overshot its target, turned back and tried again, the narrow window of time in which the MLs could land their commandos effectively closed. ML 306 couldn’t land at the Old Mole, considered the Old Entrance, then pulled out to the anger of the commandos still aboard. ML 446 also overshot its landing, tried again, then its commanders decided the carnage on the Old Mole made it impossible.

Group Two, in the starboard column, were supposed to land at the Old Entrance, but the German fire made this all but impossible. Of the 89 commandos from Group One who should have landed at the Old Mole, only 15 made it. Of the 50 commandos in Group Two, only 14 managed to get ashore. ML 192 was hit four times and began to blaze, while ML 262, badly damaged, made a run for the open sea. ML 267 was hit and set alight, and ML 268 was hit in the fuel tanks and exploded. ML 156, already damaged on the run in, was caught in crossfire, which destroyed her steering and engines, though she managed to escape. ML 177, at the rear of the column, landed its 15 commandos, helped MGB 314 pick up Campbeltown’s crew, including Beattie and explosives expert Tibbits, and then began to head downriver. Almost clear, she was struck by enemy fire and burst into flames. Beattie survived. Tibbits did not. At the rear of the two columns, MTB 74 fired a pair of delayed action torpedoes at the lock gates of the Old Entrance, made sure they sank to the bottom, then took off with some of Campbeltown’s crew, and headed downriver. Under incredible fire, it stopped to pick up additional survivors, was hit and destroyed.