Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir

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Mediterranean Campaign
Mers-el-Kebir – Calabria – Spada – Taranto – Spartivento – Matapan – Tarigo – Crete – Duisburg – Bon – 1st Sirte – 2nd Sirte – Harpoon – Pedestal – Torch – Skerki – Sicily

Mediterranean Campaign
Mers-el-Kebir – Calabria – Spada – Taranto – Spartivento – Matapan – Tarigo – Crete – Duisburg – Bon – 1st Sirte – 2nd Sirte – Harpoon – Pedestal – Torch – Skerki – Sicily

The Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, French North Africa (now Algeria) by the Royal Navy took place on 3 July, 1940.

In 1940, during World War II, following the surrender of France to Nazi Germany, the British were unable to discover whether the terms of the surrender would allow the French fleet to be used against Britain. Such a shift in the balance of power at sea would have seriously threatened Britain's ability to keep her supply lines and jeopardised her survival. Winston Churchill ordered that the French navy should either fight with the Royal Navy or be neutralised in some way, preventing it from falling into German hands. To prevent this, they launched Operation Catapult.

The French fleet was widely dispersed. Some vessels were in port in France; others had escaped from France to British controlled ports, mainly in Britain itself or Alexandria in Egypt. At the first stage of Operation Catapult, the ships in the British ports of Plymouth and Portsmouth were simply boarded on the night of 3 July 1940, with only a few casualties on each sides caused on the then largest submarine in the world, the Surcouf. Other ships were the two obsolete battleships Paris and Courbet and some destroyers and submarines. Many went on to be used by the Free French forces and some sailors joined the Free French. Other sailors were repatriated to France.

The most powerful concentration of French warships at the time was the squadron located at the port of Mers-el-Kebir in French Algeria. This consisted of the old battleships Provence and Bretagne, the modern battleships (or battlecruisers) Dunkerque and Strasbourg, the aviation transport Commandante Teste and 6 destroyers under the command of Admiral Marcel-Bruno Gensoul. The British Admiral James Somerville of Force H, based in Gibraltar, was ordered to deliver an ultimatum to the French, stating:

'It is impossible for us, your comrades up to now, to allow your fine ships to fall into the power of the German enemy. We are determined to fight on until the end, and if we win, as we think we shall, we shall never forget that France was our Ally, that our interests are the same as hers, and that our common enemy is Germany. Should we conquer we solemnly declare that we shall restore the greatness and territory of France. For this purpose we must make sure that the best ships of the French Navy are not used against us by the common foe. In these circumstances, His Majesty's Government have instructed me to demand that the French Fleet now at Mers el Kebir and Oran shall act in accordance with one of the following alternatives;

(a) sail with us and continue the fight until victory against the Germans.

(b) Sail with reduced crews under our control to a British port. The reduced crews would be repatriated at the earliest moment.

If either of these courses is adopted by you we will restore your ships to France at the conclusion of the war or pay full compensation if they are damaged meanwhile.

(c) Alternatively if you feel bound to stipulate that your ships should not be used against the Germans unless they break the Armistice, then sail them with us with reduced crews to some French port in the West Indies — Martinique for instance — where they can be demilitarised to our satisfaction, or perhaps be entrusted to the United States and remain safe until the end of the war, the crews being repatriated.

If you refuse these fair offers, I must with profound regret, require you to sink your ships within 6 hours.

Finally, failing the above, I have the orders from His Majesty's Government to use whatever force may be necessary to prevent your ships from falling into German hands.'

Somerville did not present the ultimatum personally and instead this duty fell to the French speaking Captain Cedric Holland, commanding officer of the carrier HMS Ark Royal. Admiral Gensoul, slighted that negotiations were not being conducted by a senior officer sent his own lieutenant, Bernard Dufay, actions which led to much delay and confusion. As negotiations dragged on it became clear that both sides were unlikely to give way, with the French Commander being loath to agree to demands made under the threat of British aggression. The French Marine Minister Admiral Darlan never received the full text of the British ultimatum from Admiral Gensoul most significantly with regards the option of removing to American waters, an option which formed part of the orders, given to Gensoul by Darlan, to be followed should a foreign power attempt to seize the ships under his command. Before negotiations were formally terminated British Swordfish planes from the carrier Ark Royal began dropping magnetic mines in the path of the French ships' escape route. A short while later on the instructions of Churchill, the British ships opened fire. [link]

The British force consisted of the battlecruiser HMS Hood, battleships HMS Valiant and HMS Resolution and the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. Despite the rough equivalence of force, the British had several decisive advantages. The French fleet was not prepared for battle. The French ships were anchored in a narrow harbour. The main armament of the Dunkerque and Strasbourg which was grouped on their bows, could not immediately be brought to bear. The British capital ships, with their 15-inch guns, also fired a heavier broadside than the French ones.

The British opened fire at extreme range on July 3, 1940 at 16:56. The French eventually replied but it was not effective. The third salvo from the British force and the first to hit any ships resulted in the explosion of the Bretagne which sank at 17:09. After some thirty salvos the French ships stopped firing. The British force moved to avoid fire from the forts. Provence, Dunkerque and a destroyer Mogador were damaged and ran aground. Strasbourg managed to escape from port with 4 destroyers. She was attacked by dive bombers at the time. The British force pursued initially but Somerville was outmanoeuvred by the French force. Torpedo bombers from Ark Royal attacked the Strasbourg but without effect.

The Strasbourg reached the French port of Toulon on July 4.

In the following events, on July 4, the British submarine HMS Pandora sank the French aviso (gunboat) Rigault de Genouilly, sailing from Oran. On the night of July 4 the French bombers carried out a retaliatory raid over the British fleet in Gibraltar to no great effect. Since the British believed that damage to Dunkerque and Provence was not very serious, British Fairey Swordfish aircraft from Ark Royal commenced an air raid on Mers-el-Kebir the morning of July 5. One torpedo hit Dunkerque, causing serious damage. In the whole action against Mers-el-Kebir, 1297 French sailors were killed and about 350 were wounded. The action severely strained relations between Britain and France for some time and gave the Germans a propaganda coup.

The action was influential amongst the leadership of the United States, which was gradually preparing public opinion for war. Following the rapid success of the German military, there was considerable speculation that the United Kingdom would soon fall. Martin Gilbert in his biography of Churchill wrote "Within a few days 'Oran' had become a symbol of British ruthlessness and determination".

The British Admiral Somerville was less enthusiastic about the action saying that it was “the biggest political blunder of modern times and will rouse the whole world against us…we all feel thoroughly ashamed…” [link]

The French ships in Alexandria under command of Admiral Godfroy, including the old battleship Lorraine and four cruisers, were blockaded by the British in port on 3 July and given the same proposals as in Mers-el-Kebir. After negotiations, the French Admiral agreed on 7 July to disarm his fleet and stay in port until the end of the war. They stayed there until 1943, when they eventually joined the Free French.

The last phase of Operation Catapult was an attack on 8 July by aircraft from the carrier HMS Hermes against the modern French battleship Richelieu, at Dakar. One torpedo hit and damaged Richelieu.

On 27 November 1942 the Germans attempted to capture the French fleet based at Toulon. The French scuttled all their ships including Dunkerque and Strasbourg.

Royal Navy Order of Battle

HMS Hood - Admiral Class Battlecruiser (FLAGSHIP), Sunk 1941

HMS Resolution - Revenge Class Battleship

HMS Valiant - Queen Elizabeth Class Battleship

HMS Ark Royal - Ark Royal Class Aircraft Carrier, Sunk 1941

HMS Arethusa - Arethusa Class Cruiser

HMS Enterprise - Emerald Class Cruiser

HMS Faulknor - Destroyer

HMS Foxhound - Destroyer

HMS Fearless - Destroyer

HMS Forester - Destroyer

HMS Foresight - Destroyer

HMS Escort - Destroyer

HMS Keppel - Destroyer

HMS Active - Destroyer

HMS Wrestler - Destroyer

HMS Vidette - Destroyer

HMS Vortigern - Destroyer

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