How did photographs of Campbeltown at the dock gate survive if the destroyer was packed with explosives?
Short answerThe delayed fuse left the wreck intact for hours, so German personnel photographed it before the concealed charge detonated.
NotesA viewer asks how photographs of Campbeltown at the dock gate could survive if the ship was a bomb. The charge used a delayed fuse, allowing the raiding crew to withdraw before the explosion. German personnel spent the following morning inspecting and photographing what they believed was the wreckage of a failed attack. The surviving images therefore record the deceptive interval in which the ship appeared inert even though its main weapon was still counting down.