Saint-Nazaire was a small village until theIndustrial Revolution but became a large town in the second half of the 19th century, thanks to the construction of railways and the growth of the seaport. Saint-Nazaire progressively replaced upstreamNantes as the main haven on theLoire estuary.
As a major submarine base for theKriegsmarine, Saint-Nazaire was subject to asuccessful British raid in 1942 and was heavily bombed by theAllies until 1945. Being one of theAtlantic pockets, Saint-Nazaire was one of the last territories in Europe to be liberated from German occupation, on 11 May 1945. The town was one of the most damaged in France duringWorld War II.
Archaeologists believe that Saint-Nazaire is built upon the remnants ofCorbilo, anArmoricanGaulish city populated by theNamnetes tribe, which (according to the Greek navigatorPytheas) was the second-largest Gaulish city, afterMassilia (nowMarseille).[citation needed] Archeology suggests that the area has been inhabited since at least theNeolithic period, as evidenced by the presence of monuments like thetumulus of Dissignac, thedolmen located in the centre of the present-day city, and ancient bronzes found in the vicinity.
According to the 15th-century chroniclerAlain Bouchart,Brutus of Troy, the mythical ancestor of the Bretons, travelled to Saint-Nazaire to set foot upon the new homeland of his people.[citation needed] Historical accounts note that at the end of theRoman Empire, someBritons colonized the Loire estuary and later the peninsula containingGuérande. The farthest extent of the Breton language in the Loire region isDonges, to the east of Saint-Nazaire.
According to the late-6th-century writerGregory of Tours, the Roman Church sheltered the remains of the martyrNazarius in a local basilica. According to legend, the Breton chiefWaroch II sent an emissary to seize these relics. The plot was foiled when the emissary fractured his skull upon the lintel of the church door. Waroch, interpreting this as a miracle, was deterred and the village thenceforth took the name of Sanctus Nazarius de Sinuario.[5]
After this point, the history of Saint-Nazaire, like much of Europe during the Dark Ages, is not well documented. Battles occurred, such as in 1380 whenJehan d'Ust defended the city in the name ofJohn V, Duke of Brittany (known in France as Jean IV) against the Castilian fleet during theHundred Years' War. After this time, Saint-Nazaire became the seat of a parish extending fromPenhoët toPornichet, part of theViscountcy of Saint-Nazaire.
Like the whole of Brittany, Saint-Nazaire formed part of theDuchy of Brittany until 1532, when it was annexed by France. In 1756, a fort was built on the order of thegovernor of Brittany to protect the town, which by then had 600 inhabitants.[citation needed] Until theFrench Revolution, Saint-Nazaire belonged to the province of Brittany.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the port consisted only of one simple harbour. As the town was so far inland, its main economy was not based on commercial fishing but on its strategic location as the lowest possible navigation point for large ships and on supplying pilots for navigation further up the Loire. In 1800, the parish of Saint-Nazaire had 3,216 inhabitants.
The modern Saint-Nazaire was created by the administration ofNapoleon III. The population of 3,216 in 1800 shows its battered history, with a mainly local (Brière), of Lower Brittany (of Morbihan in the Finistère-south), and minor representation from most other areas of France. From this point forward the population of Saint-Nazaire experienced exponential growth, which was reflected in its nickname of "Little Breton California", or "Liverpool of the West".
In 1802, a road was built to develop the port, which extended by 1835 to abreakwater with a navigationallighthouse at its end. The development included new basins for ships to unload to barges that carried goods further up the river. This development moved the town into the area of the city which is now called the district of "Little Morocco". This development made the town the base for the passenger steamships of the Nantes–Saint-Nazaire line, as well as making the town the alternative port for ships which could not accessNantes.
View of the "New Entrance" locks gates to Port Saint-Nazaire towards the Loire River
In 1856, the first wet dock was dug in "Halluard City", making it possible for ships to moor and turn. This led to the construction of the town's first railway connection. In 1857, theChemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans (railroad company ofOrléans) connected Saint-Nazaire to Nantes. In 1862, the firsttransatlantic telegraph lines were installed from France to South America, coming ashore at Saint-Nazaire. 1862 also saw the construction of major shipbuilding facilities, including those ofChantier Scott, which launched the first French metal-hulled ships. In 1868, Saint-Nazaire became a sub-prefecture of the town ofSavenay. A second dock basin was created atPenhoët in 1881, to allow the handling of larger ships, but a lock gate built to access it cut the town in two, thus creating Old Saint-Nazaire and an artificial island called "Little Morocco".
In early 1870, Nantes-bornPierre Waldeck-Rousseau joined the bar in Saint-Nazaire. In September he became, in spite of his youth, secretary to the municipal commission temporarily appointed to carry on the town's business. He organized theNational Defense at Saint-Nazaire, and marched out with his contingent, though they saw no active service due to lack of ammunition (their private store having been commandeered by the state). In 1873, he moved to the bar ofRennes, following the establishment of theThird Republic in 1871.
On 30 March 1894, astrike occurred at the forging mills of Trignac in opposition to a reduction of the work force. What had seemed a small dispute escalated after a shooting inFourmies, resulting in the town getting its national nickname of "Red City". Socialists flocked to the town in defense of the striking workers, joining in the declaration of the "Fusillade de Fourmies".
In 1900, the commune ofPornichet was created by separating from the larger commune of Saint-Nazaire.
DuringWorld War I, the city became an important debarkment port ofAllied troops, particularly in the latter stages for theUnited States Army. When they entered the war in 1917, they developed the town and port infrastructure, by adding additionaldrinking water storage ponds for the town'swater treatment plants, and arefrigeration terminal to the docks for shipment and storage of meat and dairy products to supply their troops.
However, the presence oflegal brothels (Maisons Tolérées) resulted in a diplomatic incident. As a result of strict reformist public health concerns at home, theAmerican Expeditionary Force placed theMaisons Tolérées off limits, resulting in a dispute between the town's brothel owners backed by the mayor, versus the US Army forces. With the dispute escalating, Prime MinisterGeorges Clemenceau sent a memo to GeneralJohn Pershing offering a compromise: American medical authorities would control designated brothels operated solely for American soldiers. Pershing passed the proposal toRaymond Fosdick, who on giving it toSecretary of WarNewton D. Baker promptly responded: "For God's sake, Raymond, don't show this to the president or he'll stop the war." Only after the signing of theArmistice in November 1918, when the United States Army could no longer plead military necessity as grounds for curtailing leave, didvenereal disease rates among United States Army troops rise quickly.[6]
The post-war period brought about a period of economic depression for the shipbuilders, who consequently diversified into buildingseaplanes from 1922. In 1926 the district ofPaimbœuf was merged with the district of Saint-Nazaire, thus reinforcing the influence of the city on the south bank of the Loire River.
Although having builtSS Paris, between 1913 and 1921, andSS Île de France between 1925 and 1926, as a result of the 1930sGreat Depression the French government commissioned a series of state programs to aid national economic activity. The state-owned shipping companyCompagnie Générale Transatlantique commissioned the ship builders of Saint-Nazaire to construct a new large passenger ship, which as a result between 1928 and 1934 created theAlbert Caquot–engineered theLouis Joubert dry dock – at 1,200 m × 60 m (3,940 ft × 200 ft), the largest of its kind in the world at the time – necessary to be able to accommodate the construction ofSS Normandie. In 1932, the Saint-Nazaire casino went bankrupt and was resold to the town of Nantes: the site was redeveloped in 1935 as the first home of the current Saint-Louis school.
As a result of the national general strike of June 1936, to ensure completion of the nationally prestigious project SSNormandie, the government nationalised the various private shipyards into one state-owned entity, the 1861-foundedChantiers de l'Atlantique.
On 17 June 1940 an estimated 9,000 British Army soldiers were embarked aboard theClyde-built cruise liner, later converted to troopship,RMS Lancastria, which was attacked and sunk by GermanJunkers Ju 88 bombers, mainly fromKampfgeschwader 30, taking with her around 4,000 victims.[7] This is the worst disaster in British maritime history and the worst loss of life for British forces in the whole of World War II.Winston Churchill banned all news coverage of the disaster on learning of it and it remains largely forgotten by history. ALancastria memorial is located near theU-boat pens in Saint-Nazaire.
Theball turret gunner of an AmericanB-17F bomber fell 20,000 ft (6,100 m) onto the glass roof of the train station, even though his parachute had been destroyed by German flak while still in his plane. The US airman,Alan Magee, survived the fall. A German military surgeon was able to save his nearly severed arm. The airman credited his survival to a prayer to God as he recovered consciousness during his fall.[8]
Following the surrender of France to German forces later in June 1940, the port immediately became a base of operations for theKriegsmarine and was as such the target ofAllied operations. A heavily fortified U-boatSaint-Nazaire submarine base was built byOrganisation Todt shortly after occupation, with a 9 m-thick (30 ft) concrete ceiling capable of withstanding almost any bomb in use at the time.
The base provided a home during the war to many of the best-known U-boat staff, including:
KapitänleutnantCarl Emmermann – took command of 6th U-boat Flotilla over from Schulz in November 1942, until it left Saint-Nazaire forNorway in August 1944.
The base stands today as its extremely sturdy construction makes demolition uneconomical. The base is now used by cafes, a bar and on the roof is an exhibition about Saint-Nazaire.
The huge Joubert drydock built for SSNormandie was the only port on the Atlantic capable of servicing the GermanbattleshipsBismarck andTirpitz. This made the port strategically important to both theAxis powers and the Allies during World War II. AfterOperation Rheinübung on 18–27 May 1941, which resulted in the sinking ofHMS Hood and thesinking ofBismarck, the need for the Allies to take the Joubert dry dock out of operation was increased. On 28 March 1942, a force of 611British Commandos and theRoyal Navy launched theSt Nazaire Raid against the shipyards of Saint-Nazaire, codenamedOperation Chariot. An obsolete American-builtdestroyerHMS Campbeltown was used as a ram-ship loaded with explosives. It and the Commandos succeeded in destroying the gates and machinery of the Joubert drydock, preventing its further use by the Germans during the war.[9] Of the 600+ navy and commando personnel, 220 returned, half were wounded. FiveVictoria Crosses and 69 other decorations were awarded. The Joubert dry dock was not brought back into operation until 1948.
The U-boat threat to supply convoys across the Atlantic made Saint-Nazaire a constant target of Allied air forces, in the face of determinedLuftwaffe fighter opposition to raids byUnited States Army Air ForcesEighth Air Force bombers. On 3 January 1943 ColonelCurtis LeMay led 85Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 1st Bombardment Wing against the U-boat pens at Saint-Nazaire, on the Eighth Air Force's sixth raid against the facility. LeMay also introduced thecombat box defensive formation, echeloning three-plane elements within asquadron, and squadrons within a group, to concentrate defensive firepower against fighter opposition. Only 76 aircraft found and hit the target, and during the mission seven bombers were shot down and 47 damaged.
As a result of the raid, on 14 January 1943 under directive (S.46239/?? A.C.A.S. Ops), the Allies implementedincendiary bomb tactics against U-boat pens, under theArea bombing directive. To minimize civilian casualties during air attacks, the Allies devised a plan to force an evacuation of the town. For three days in 1943, BritishRoyal Air Force and American aircraft dropped scores of leaflets warning the population of a plannedfire-bombing raid. At the end of the third day, the raid came and burned the entire city to the ground. Casualties were light as most of the civilians had heeded the warning and fled to the safety of the countryside but after that point, except for the self-contained U-boat base, Saint-Nazaire remained abandoned until the end of the war.
AfterD-day and theliberation of most of France in 1944, German troops in Saint-Nazaire's submarine base refused to surrender, and they holed up (as did their counterparts in theLa Rochelle andLorient bases). Since the Germans could no longer conduct major submarine operations from the bases without a supply line, theSHAEF commander, U.S. GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower decided to simply bypass these ports, and the Allied armies focused their resources on the invasion of Germany. Saint-Nazaire and the other two German "pockets" remained under German control until after the last day of the war in Europe, 8 May 1945.[10]
The town of St. Nazaire was rebuilt in the late 1940s and 1950s in a minimalist functional style. One of the last of these buildings to be completed was theHôtel de Ville which was completed in February 1960.[11]
The submarine base was used by the French Navy from 1945 to 1948. It then came under the control of various chemical companies and shipbuilders.[12] As of 2016[update], the French diesel submarineEspadon is moored within the U-boat pens. Tours of the submarine are available to the public.
After the construction ofSS France in 1961, the last Compagnie Générale Transatlantique liner and the subsequent closure of theSuez Canal, Chantiers de l'Atlantique began building large oil tankers, includingBatillus,Bellamya,Pierre Guillaumat andPrairial. A new dry dock (Basin C) was planned for the construction of tankers over 1,000,000 tonnes but this fell through with the reopening of the Suez Canal.RMS Queen Mary 2 was constructed at Chantiers de l'Atlantique in 2003.
The town of Saint-Nazaire is located on the north bank of the Loire estuary (its territory includes the tip of Chémoulin which marks the end of the estuary), 50 km west of Nantes. It is near the marshes of Brière, an important regional natural park with many animal and plant species, the second largest wetland in France after the Camargue.
According toINSEE, Saint-Nazaire is the commune-center of anurban unit (commonly: agglomeration) which counted 186,760 inhabitants in 2018,[2] gathering 17 communes of the Loire estuary. This unit is the urban center of the urban area of Saint-Nazaire (24 communes), which had 213,675 inhabitants in 2018 and extending over Brière and almost all of the Guérande peninsula.[2] The eastern part of the town is on the alluvial terrain between the Brière and the Loire estuary. The western part, more extensive, corresponds to the extension of the hillside of Guérande: the relief is hilly and of higher altitude, where one finds a granite and metamorphic base. Geologically, Saint-Nazaire is located in the Armorican massif.
In close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, the climate of Saint-Nazaire is, as with the rest of the Loire-Atlantique, of temperate oceanic type, withCfb designation inKöppen climate classification. This climate is very much influenced by the Loire estuary. The winters are mild, and summer is warm. Snowfall is rare, but rain is frequent (116 days a year with precipitation) but not very intense, the annual rainfall being 792 mm. Precipitation is however relatively variable from one year to the next. The sunshine is 1,892.6 hours a year.
Saint-Nazaire receives mainly southwestern sector winds related to the Atlantic depressions and northeastern sector winds when the weather is more stable. The annual average wind speed is 4.2 m / s and there are 61.7 days per year of strong wind.
The primary schools of Saint-Nazaire (Carnot, Jean-Jaurès, Lamartine, Jules Ferry, Ferdinand Bush, Boncourt, etc.) educate nearly 8,000 pupils in 30 school complexes. The junior schools have nearly 7,000 pupils in 12 colleges: public colleges Albert Vinçon; Pierre Norange; Manon Roland; Jean de Neyman; Jean Moulin, accommodate around 1,350 pupils each. Private colleges include: Saint-Louis (1,000 pupils, boarding school; historically a college for boys), Sainte-Therese (historically a college for girls).
The high schools educate 6,000 pupils into 11 lycées, with the mainstream education and technical school Aristide Briand having some 2,500 pupils, one of the largest lycée of France;[citation needed] an experimental lycée, public lycée managed jointly by the teachers and the pupils; the private lycée of Saint-Louis mainstream education; the hotel private lycée Sainte-Anne; the private of mainstream education and technological college Our-Lady-in Espérance. The Cité Scolaire of Saint-Nazaire is one of largest of France, with nearly 4,000 high-school pupils.
The University of Saint-Nazaire is a college of theUniversity of Nantes, the second largest university in France[citation needed] with approximately 35,000 students, including nearly 5,000 on the university campus of Saint-Nazaire.
TheRoute nationaleN165/N161 (E60 route) connects Saint-Nazaire to Nantes andRennes via thePont de Saint-Nazaire, which crosses the Loire. Paris is then accessed via the A10/A11 in Nantes. Valves, Lorient, Quimper and Brest are accessed via the N165.
A project to review a second crossing of the Loire between Nantes and Saint Nazaire is being considered, planned to be constructed and operational by 2025.
Saint-Nazaire airport is located 5 km (3 mi) south-east of Saint-Nazaire, in thecommune ofMontoir-de-Bretagne. It has an annual capacity of approximately 150,000 passengers, and is the operational and maintenance base forEagle Aviation France.
International travel is viaNantes Atlantique Airport, the biggest airport in western France, linking with several French and European cities as well asMontreal in Canada (seasonally) and some cities in North Africa. A new airport was planned that was to be situated 30 km (19 mi) to the north-west of Nantes in thecommune ofNotre-Dame-des-Landes. CalledAéroport du Grand Ouest, it was officially cancelled in 2018.
The shipyards of Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire
The economy of the city is founded on the activity of the port, including export of manufactured goods but also on the services, being given sizeable size of the city. Commercial fishing has almost completely disappeared in spite of the existence of a small fleet of fisheries and fishing vessels.
Saint-Nazaire suffered heavily from the downsizing of shipbuilding activity in western Europe in the 1960s and 1970s, after the completion of the national passenger liner, SSFrance. For a long time in the 1980s, Saint-Nazaire remained an economically depressed area with unemployment rates above 20%. Today, the local economy is more diversified and its situation is more in line with that of France as a whole. The major industries are:
Shipyard – having previously concentrated on both naval and cargo ship construction,Chantiers de l'Atlantique has completed a successful reconversion to cruise ship building and is now one of the world leaders in this sector. Purchased byAker Yards, theCunard Line's new flagship, RMSQueen Mary 2, was built in Saint-Nazaire.
Airbus – Saint-Nazaire is one of the European centers ofAirbus, responsible for the fitting out of aircraft fuselage sections. Originally a factory built forSNCASO, it is located at Penhoët, immediate north of the sites of Chantiers de l'Atlantique. An additional facility was built in Gron in 1980. For theAirbus A380, the AirbusRoll-on/roll-off (RORO) shipVille de Bordeaux brings fuselage sections fromHamburg, (Germany) for larger, assembled sections, some of which include the nose. The ship then unloads these sections plus wings fromFilton, Bristol andBroughton in NorthWales atBordeaux. From there, the A380 parts are transported by barge toLangon, Gironde, and by oversize road convoys to the assembly hall inToulouse.[15] New wider roads, canal systems and barges were developed to deliver the A380 parts. After assembly, the aircraft are flown to Hamburg,XFW to be furnished and painted.
Aeronautical engineering – Famat, a joint-venture company betweenSnecma andGeneral Electric, has a factory in Saint-Nazaire. Employing approximately 450 people, Famat specializes in the manufacture of structural elements forturbojets.
Mechanical engineering –SEMT Pielstick, a manufacturer of diesel engines intended for naval and railway applications and for electrical production. Now part ofMAN B&W Diesel, the SEMT Pielstick factory employed in 2006 670 people in Saint-Nazaire.
The Saint-Nazaire wind farm from space.
Port – the primary French port on the Atlantic coast. Now busier than its rival Nantes, it is managed by the Port Authority of Nantes-Saint-Nazaire. The port terminal handles high volumes of food products, and methane, and oil company Elf de Donges and many other industries.
Saint Nazaire hosts the first Frenchoffshore wind farm with 80 wind turbines that will produce enough power to cover consumptions of around 700,000 people.[16]
AMYNTAS, new VLCC inaugurated in February 2019 berthing at Donges / Saint-Nazaire (France).Rear view of the AMYNTAS.
In the book ofDas Boot Saint-Nazaire was the base used in the novel. The film changed the location toLa Rochelle because its appearance had not changed to such a large degree in the years following World War II.
In the Franco-Canadian CGI CartoonSkyland, Saint Nazaire is a name of a pirate flagship participating in a losing rebellion trying to overthrow a corruptmilitary dictatorship.
Fernand Guériff [fr] (1914–1994), scholar, type-setter, historian, journalist devoted mainly to the soil of the peninsula guérandaise 5
Yann Goulet (1914–1999), sculptor,Breton nationalist and war-time collaborationist with Nazi Germany who headed the BretonBagadou Stourm militia. He later took Irish citizenship and became professor of sculpture at theRoyal Hibernian Academy
Marie Léra (1864-1958), journalist, novelist, translator
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