The British destroyer (formerly USS "Buchanan", supplied under Lend-Lease) was disguised as a German destroyer for the purpose of ramming the gates of the Normandie dry dock at St. Nazaire on 28 March 1942. This action aimed to prevent the Normandie dock ever being used by the German battleship . (It was the only dock on the "Wehrmacht"-occupied Atlantic coast capable of repairing such a large vessel.) The operation succeeded, and a large explosive time-bomb charge hidden in the bow of the ship exploded the next day, putting the dock out of commission for five years.