USS Buchanan ( DD - 131 ) USS " Buchanan " ( DD - 131 ) , named for Franklin Buchanan , was a " Wickes " - class destroyer in the United States Navy . " Buchanan " was transferred to the United Kingdom under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement in 1940 and served as HMS " Campbeltown " ( I42 ) . She was destroyed during the St . Nazaire Raid : at 1 : 34 on 28 March 1942 , loaded with four tons of amatol explosive , the ship rammed the gates of the " Forme Ecluse Louis Joubert " dry dock . The ship exploded the following morning , ending the use of the dock for the rest of the war . Service with the United States Navy . The first USS " Buchanan " ( DD - 131 ) was launched on 2 January 1919 by Bath Iron Works , Bath , Maine ; sponsored by Mrs . Charles P . Wetherbee . The ship was commissioned 20 January 1919 with Lieutenant H . H . J . Bensen in command . " Buchanan " reported to Commander , Destroyer Force , at Guantanamo , Cuba , and was temporarily attached to Destroyer Squadron 2 until ordered to the Pacific Fleet in July 1919 for duty with Destroyer Flotilla 4 . From 7 June 1922 until 10 April 1930 " Buchanan " was out of commission at San Diego . She then joined Destroyer Division 10 , Destroyer Squadrons , Battle Force , and operated on the West Coast in routine division , force , and fleet activities and problems . It was for this short period that she was commanded by Theodore E . Chandler , who would later become an admiral during World War II , and was killed in action in the South Pacific in January , 1945 . In the summer of 1934 , after making a cruise to Alaska with ROTC units aboard , she was placed in reduced commission attached to Rotating Reserve Destroyer Squadron 20 at San Diego . Again placed in full commission in December 1934 , she resumed operations with Division 5 , Destroyers , Battle Force . " Buchanan " was again out of commission at San Diego from 9 April 1937 until 30 September 1939 at which time she was refitted for action with Division 65 , Destroyer Squadron 32 , Atlantic Squadron . From December 1939 until 22 February 1940 , she operated with the Neutrality Patrol and Antilles Detachment . She was then assigned to patrol in the Gulf of Mexico , operating out of Galveston , Texas and later off Key West and around the Florida Straits . She arrived at Boston Navy Yard 2 September and then proceeded to Halifax , where on 9 September 1940 she was decommissioned and transferred to the United Kingdom under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement . Service with the Royal Navy - HMS " Campbeltown " ( I42 ) . Upon her arrival at HMNB Devonport , England , on 29 September 1940 , HMS " Campbeltown " was allocated to the 7th Escort Group , Liverpool , in the Western Approaches Command . In January 1941 she was provisionally allocated to the Royal Netherlands Navy , but reverted to the Royal Navy in September 1941 . Between September 1941 and March 1942 she served with Atlantic convoys and was attacked on several occasions by enemy U - boat s and aircraft , but escaped without damage . On 15 September 1941 she picked up the survivors of the Norwegian motor tanker " Vinga " , damaged by an enemy air attack . Saint - Nazaire Raid . In 1942 , the German battleship " Tirpitz " anchored at Trondheim in Norway was considered to present a grave threat to Atlantic convoys . However , should the ship enter the Atlantic then the dry dock originally built for the liner " SS Normandie " in the German - occupied port of Saint - Nazaire , France , was the only one in German hands on the Atlantic seaboard large enough to hold her . It was considered that if this dock could be put out of action , then a sortie by the " Tirpitz " into the Atlantic would be much more dangerous for her , and probably not worth the risk . The obsolete " Campbeltown " was selected for the task , and cosmetic modifications quickly done to make her look similar to a German " Möwe " class destroyer . Using genuine German recognition signals , the force approached to within less than a mile of the harbour before they were fired upon , " Campbeltown " as the largest target drawing most of the fire . At 01 : 34 on 28 March 1942 , " Campbeltown " rammed the dock gate 4 minutes later than planned . Troops and crew came ashore under heavy German fire and set about demolishing the dock machinery . 169 of the raiders were killed ( 64 commandos and 105 sailors ) out of the 611 men in the attacking force . Of the survivors , 215 were captured and 222 were evacuated by the surviving small craft . A further five evaded capture and travelled overland through France to Spain and then to Gibraltar . The charges in " Campbeltown " exploded the next day , 28 March , an hour and a half after the latest time that the British had expected them to detonate . Although the ship had been searched by the Germans , the explosives had not been detected . The explosion killed around 250 German soldiers and French civilians and demolished both the front half of the ship and the 160 ton caisson , the inrush of water into the dock washing the remains of the ship into it . The dock was rendered unusable for the rest of the war , and was not repaired until 1947 . Ship ' s bell . The bell was given to Campbelltown , Pennsylvania as a gesture of appreciation towards the United States for the lend - lease programme . It was lent by the town to the current HMS " Campbeltown " , a Type 22 frigate , when it was commissioned in 1989 , and will remain on the ship whilst it is in service with the Royal Navy . Films . The 1952 film The Gift Horse was loosely based on the story of HMS Campbeltown . The 1968 film Attack On The Iron Coast was loosely based on the story of HMS Campbeltown .