The Dams Raid was conceived in the brilliant mind of Barnes Wallis, an experienced aircraft designer. Wallis had designed the very successful Wellington bomber that had been operational since the beginning of the war and, in his spare time, he searched for weaknesses in the enemy's industrial infrastructure. The hydroelectric dams of the highly Ruhr Valley became his focus.

He devised a cylindrical, 9500 pound weapon that could be dropped at low level while rotating backwards at 500 rpm. Released from a height of 60 feet, about 450 yards from the dam, and at a speed of 230 miles per hour, the weapon would then skip along the water (and over any torpedo nets) until it struck the dam wall, the spinning maintaining the weapon's stability and slowing it down.

The backward rotation would then cause the cylinder to roll down the dam wall where it would explode at a predetermined depth. The wall would be weakened and the great weight of water would cause the dam to collapse.