Operation Chastise
The Möhne and Edersee dams were breached, causing catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley and of villages in the Eder valley. Two hydroelectric power stations were destroyed and several more damaged. Factories and mines were also damaged and destroyed. An estimated 1,600 civilians – about 600 Germans and 1,000 mainly Soviet forced labourers – died. Despite rapid repairs by the Germans, production did not return to normal until September.
About Operation Chastise in brief
Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron. The Möhne and Edersee dams were breached, causing catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley and of villages in the Eder valley. Two hydroelectric power stations were destroyed and several more damaged. Factories and mines were also damaged and destroyed. An estimated 1,600 civilians – about 600 Germans and 1,000 mainly Soviet forced labourers – died. Despite rapid repairs by the Germans, production did not return to normal until September. The mission grew out of a concept for a bomb designed by Barnes Wallis, assistant chief designer at Vickers. Wallis had worked on the Vickers Wellesley and Vickers Wellington bombers. He had also begun work, with Admiralty support, on an anti-shipping bomb, although dam destruction was soon considered. At first, Wallis wanted to drop a 10-long-ton bomb from an altitude of about 40,000 ft, part of the earthquake bomb concept. A subsequent test suggested that a charge of 7,500lb exploded 30ft below water level would breach a full size dam; crucially this weight would be within the carrying capacity of an Avro Lancaster. The first air drop trials were at Chesil Beach in December 1942; these used a spinning 4ft 6in sphere dropped from a modified Vicker Wellington, serial ‘BJ895G’; the same aircraft was used until April 1943 when the first modified Lancasters became available.
Avro Chief Designer Roy Chadwick adapted the Lancaster to carry the mine. It was mounted on two crutches and was spun up to speed by an auxiliary motor before dropping it. In February 1943, Vice-Marshal Francis Linnell at the Ministry of Aircraft Production thought the work was diverting Wallis from the development of the Vicker Windsor bombers to an influential intelligence officer, Captain Frederick Winter. Both Linnam and Wallis were also opposed to the allocation of his bombers after a briefing by the head of Bomber Command, Sir Arthur Harris, to offer Wallis the offer to resign. The decision was made to keep Wallis in his job and he went on to work for Vickers until the end of the Second World War. The mine would skip across the surface of the water before hitting the dam wall as its forward speed ceased. It would then run down the side of the dam towards its base, thus maximising the explosive effect against the dam. This weapon was code-named Upkeep. The Avro Lancasters were modified as Special B Mark IIs so that they were known as Lancaster B Mark IIIs. The Lancaster Mk IIIs were also modified as Lancaster Mark III B Mark 3s so they could be used as Special Mark IIIs. The aircraft were used until the beginning of the Third World War, when they became available as the Lancaster Mk 4s. They were then used as the first Lancaster Mk 5s.
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This page is based on the article Operation Chastise published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 29, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
