The French fleet during the entire period of the "Strange War" suffered practically no losses, and by May 1940 was rightfully considered the fourth navy in the world.

Moreover, on the eve of the war, it included (and was also about to enter) four new battleships - which greatly increased its combat value. Well, after the signing of the armistice and the withdrawal of France from the war, this fourth most powerful navy became an indefinite threat - therefore, Churchill with an intrepid hand signs the plan for Operation Catapult, designed to capture or destroy the French navy.

HOW it was held is not very important for us now, it is much more important for us to understand WHY it was held.

Those French ships that were in bases controlled by the British, the latter managed to capture relatively bloodlessly: on July 3, in Portsmouth, they got two old battleships (Paris, launched in 1911, and Courbet, which did this a year earlier ), two destroyers, five submarines and two hundred different small ships and boats; the battleship Lorraine (born in 1912), four cruisers and half a dozen destroyers stationed in Alexandria on July 5 quietly and peacefully poured fuel, removed the locks from the guns and declared themselves interned.

But with the latest French battleships, such a feint did not work: the British had to send Admiral Sommerville's squadron to Algeria (where the combat core of the French fleet was concentrated in the unfinished base of Mers-el-Kebir). Which by fire from the guns of the main caliber announced to the French sailors that Great Britain was no longer their ally.

Attack on Mers el Kebir

A total of 1297 Frenchmen were killed, 350 people were wounded; the battleship Brittany exploded, the battleships Dunkirk and Provence, damaged by the fire of the British fleet, were run aground by their crews (and then repaired and departed for Toulon).

The battleship Strasbourg with five destroyers managed to break through to Toulon that day - however, in November 1942 it was sunk by its crew. The battleship "Richelieu" was fired upon by the British in Dakar.

“The elimination of the French fleet, as an important factor, with almost a single blow, with the help of violent measures,” Sir Winston wrote about Operation Catapult, “made a deep impression in all countries. This was done by England, who was dismissed by many, thinking that she was helpless; England, which, as foreigners believed, was trembling on the verge of capitulation ... England dealt a cruel blow to her yesterday's friends and secured for herself temporary undisputed dominance at sea. It became clear that the War Cabinet feared nothing and would stop at nothing.”

Mr. Churchill is proud of the treacherous stab in the back inflicted on his recent closest ally, he is proud of the murder of people who, until their very last minute, considered the British to be comrades in arms ... And this person is today considered to be a model politician?

However, conscience for Sir Winston, as you know, was an abstract concept - he preferred to operate with specific categories, the main of which was "expediency"

What was the purpose and key meaning of Operation Catapult?

If Churchill wanted to establish peace in Europe, there would be no need to sink the French fleet; why?

Germany has proved to its enemies that it is capable of defeating any armies that these enemies can put against it in the line of fire - and the only goal of Hitler and his colleagues is to conclude peace, and on the most mild terms for the losing side.

In his speech to the Reichstag on July 19, 1940, he spoke about this directly and frankly - as befits a generous winner:

“At this hour, I feel obliged to listen to the voice of conscience and invite England to reason. I hope that we will be wise enough to stop talking about future victories. I see no reason that could justify the continuation of this war. The sacrifices that a continuation of the fire may bring disturb me, for I prefer to protect my people just as I hope you do.

That is, he directly offered the British to send parliamentarians and sit down at the negotiating table - where to decide what the post-war world would be like. It was the generosity of the winner - no matter what the historians of the winners later say ...

Thus, if Churchill wanted peace, he would not have sent Admiral Sommerville to Mers-el-Kebir.

Perhaps the danger of the French fleet being captured by the Germans was really so great - that in order to avoid it it was extremely necessary to open heavy fire on the ships that had just yesterday sailed with the British in the same warrant?

Nothing happened! THERE WAS NO THIS DANGER AT ALL!

What was said in the armistice agreement signed by the Germans and the French?

« Article 8. The French navy, with the exception of the ships required by the French government for the protection of French interests in the colonies, must assemble in ports for counting and disarmament under German or Italian control. The choice of these ports is determined by the registration of ships in peacetime. The German government solemnly announces to the French government that it does not intend to use the French fleet in ports under German control for its own purposes, with the exception of those combat units that will be needed for coastal patrols and minesweeping. Moreover, it solemnly and sincerely declares that it does not intend to make any demands on the French navy for the duration of the peace. With the exception of that part of the French fleet which is designated to represent French interests in the colonies, all ships outside French territorial waters are to be recalled to France.

Article 9 The French High Command provides the German High Command with detailed information on all minefields laid by France, as well as on all harbors, coastal batteries and coastal defenses. Minefield sweeping is to be carried out by French forces on the scale indicated by the German High Command.

That is - the Germans demanded from the French the NEUTRALIZATION of their navy - so that it would not fall into the hands of the British. And no more!

On June 24, Admiral Darlan sent a telegram to all naval bases, where he explained to his subordinates the essence of the truce:

« 1. Demobilized ships must remain French, under the French flag, with French crews and based on French bases in the mother country and in the colonies. 2. Special secret sabotage measures should be taken to prevent the ships from being taken by force by any enemy or foreign country. 3. If, under the terms of the armistice, the above is not accepted, all ships, without additional orders, must go to the USA or be flooded if there is no way to prevent their capture by the enemy. In any case, they should not fall intact into the hands of the enemy. 4. Ships thus interned must not take part in operations against Germany or Italy without orders from the commander-in-chief.

The Germans agreed that the French Navy ceased to exist as a military force, de jure and de facto remaining under French administration in French military bases.

That is, the Germans COULD NOT CAPTURE these ships in any way - even based on purely geographical considerations.

When they made this attempt - in November 1942, having occupied "Vichy" France - the French sailors in Toulon simply sank all their ships: 3 battleships, 8 cruisers, 17 destroyers, 16 destroyers, 16 submarines, 7 guards, 3 patrol ships, 60 transports, minesweepers and tugboats went to the bottom without lowering the French flags.

That is, the French fleet in the summer of 1940 would in no way fall into the hands of the Germans. Then why did the British Prime Minister Churchill need to arrange this dastardly murder?

TO PROVE YOUR DETERMINATION TO FIGHT TO THE VICTORIOUS END.

To prove to those who appointed him to this position that he will not sign ANY PEACE on any GERMAN terms, even if they are at least three times mild and in no way affecting the interests of Great Britain. For this would mean that the Germans would retain the right to be masters in their own country - and such an outcome of the war was in no way included in the plans of the Anglo-Saxon financial oligarchy.

Winston Churchill with a Thompson submachine gun during a visit to the coastal defense positions near Hartlepool on July 31, 1940

They planned and unleashed a world slaughter - precisely in order to DESTROY Germany; and they did not need any peace treaties with her.

And in the name of stopping any thoughts of a possible reconciliation with the Germans, French ships were sunk by the English squadron and French sailors were killed. Urbi et orbi it was demonstrated that the war would be carried on by Germany's enemies to the bitter end - whatever the cost of this victory!

And as for the hypothetical capture of French ships by the Germans, the command of the Kriegsmarine was forced, due to an acute shortage of fuel, on February 2, 1943, to withdraw the Gneisenau battle cruiser from the fleet, remove its weapons and turn it into a blockade in the port of Gdynia.

The German admirals did not have enough oil to refuel their own battlecruiser, and what they would have refueled the captured French battleships and cruisers if, more than expected, they suddenly fell into their hands - only God knows ...

France and Great Britain began the Second World War, being in the same camp. As with any ambitious state, there was a traditional set of economic and political contradictions between these two countries, but the common threat in the person of Germany once again rallied them. Who would have thought that just over a year after the start of the war, Britain would try to sink a significant part of the French fleet.

Defeated France: between the hammer and the anvil

On October 24, 1940, at the railway station of the town of Montoir, the hero of the First World War, the "Verdun winner", 84-year-old marshal and head of the French state Philippe Pétain met with the German Chancellor Adolf Hitler. The leaders of the victorious and defeated countries sealed the results of their conversation with a handshake. Under the history of the Third Republic, which formally ceased to exist back in late June - early July 1940 (on June 22, an act of capitulation of France was signed, and on July 10, a new constitution was adopted by the country's parliament in the cabaret theater of the resort town of Vichy) this meeting was held fat line. France was turning into an authoritarian state closely linked to Nazi Germany.

A week later, on October 30, Marshal Pétain, trying to justify his act in the eyes of fellow citizens, in his address to the nation called for reconciliation and cooperation with Germany:

French people!
Last Thursday I met with the Reich Chancellor. Our meeting aroused hopes and gave rise to anxiety; I must give some clarification on this. […] I accepted the Fuhrer's invitation of my own free will. I was not subjected to any "dictatorship", any pressure from him. We have agreed on cooperation between our two countries. […] Ministers are responsible only to me. History will make its judgment on me alone. So far I have spoken to you as a father, today I speak to you as the head of the nation. Follow me! Keep your faith in eternal France!

Meeting of the head of the French state, Marshal Philippe Pétain (left) with Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler (in the foreground, right). To the right of Hitler in the background is German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop

The only one of the great (both economically and militarily) powers of the anti-Hitler coalition, France survived the complete defeat and occupation. At the same time, the government formed under such conditions was able not only to remain “at the helm” for more than 4 years, but also, having retained a significant part of the colonial empire, to negotiate the place of France in the new “German Europe”.

Critically evaluating the decisions of Philippe Pétain, one should not forget what events pushed France onto the dubious path of cooperation with a cruel and unprincipled aggressor. In the period from July 3 to 8, in the ports of England, Egypt, as well as several French overseas possessions, the Royal Navy of Great Britain carried out a series of operations, collectively known as the "Catapult", which greatly complicated Anglo-French relations for several years to come. . Immediately after it, the Vichy government of France broke off diplomatic relations with Britain, and the further tilt of France's foreign policy towards Germany was predetermined.

Unfortunately, the military operations of the Allied armies against Vichy France are far from being exhausted only by Operation Catapult. Over the course of several years, a whole series of military clashes took place, even some of which, in terms of their scale, were drawn to a full-scale local war. Let's try to figure out what justified Britain's decision to escalate a direct conflict with France.

"Mistress of the Seas" is nervous

The Vichy government of France, except for the central and southern parts of the metropolis, from the middle of 1940, with certain reservations, controlled almost completely vast colonial possessions in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. The reservations here mean that some possessions in Equatorial Africa and South Asia (Pondicherry and other cities of French India) quickly came under the control of the allies and de Gaulle's "Free France", and Indochina, remaining legally French, already from the summer of 1940 year, in fact, turned into a Franco-Japanese co-ownership. The position of the Vichy regime in North and West Africa was especially strong.

The land army of France in the war was almost completely defeated. But the naval forces, a significant part of which were located outside the metropolis, as well as in the ports of the Mediterranean coast, not occupied by Germany, retained most of their combat potential. The fourth largest fleet in the world after the defeat of France in the war had rather unclear prospects. According to article 8 of the German-French agreement on the cessation of hostilities, his ships were required to report to their pre-war ports of registry. For example, the most modern French battleships would return to German-occupied Brest. Then, under the control of German and Italian representatives, the court was to be disarmed and the teams demobilized.

On June 29, the French were able to "push through" in negotiations with the Italians and Germans the condition according to which the disarmament and demobilization of the crews still had to be carried out in African ports and not occupied Toulon. Unfortunately, the British Admiralty, due to communication with the French naval forces, which was difficult for objective reasons, did not receive timely information about this small diplomatic victory of the Vichy government. Perhaps if this information had been received in time, the fatal Catapult would not have fired four days later.

If the agreement on the cessation of hostilities is interpreted literally, then it turned out that the French ships would not go to Germany. However, the British government reasonably believed that Germany could approach the interpretation of such an agreement quite "creatively". In any case, had Germany wished to "privatize" the French ships that had arrived for disarmament in France, the French would hardly have been able to prevent this.

According to some French historians, another source of Anglo-French complications was the different meanings of the word "control" that Germany was supposed to exercise over French ships under the armistice agreement in French and English. In French, "control" has a meaning close to the Russian "observation", and in English this word means "management".

Great Britain, by the middle of 1940, almost single-handedly fighting against Germany and its allies, had several strong trump cards that allowed it to survive in this struggle. The island position and a much stronger navy than that of Germany guaranteed the relative calm of the mother country. Extensive colonial possessions made it possible to supply the country's economy with the necessary resources, but sustainable supply was also possible only in the case of confident superiority at sea. If a good fleet of France fell into the hands of the Germans, then the fleets of the Axis countries in the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic (including Italian) would feel much more confident.

Relatively simply, the British resolved the issue with the French ships that were at the time of the defeat of France in the ports of England. On July 3, in Portsmouth, only the crew of the Surcouf submarine offered armed resistance when the vessel was captured by the British Marines. Two obsolete battleships, two destroyers, five submarines and eight torpedo boats surrendered to the boarding parties without a fight. Also, the taking under English control and disarmament of French ships (the old battleship Lorian, 4 cruisers and several destroyers) in Egyptian Alexandria also happened quite smoothly.

But the ships that were in the ports controlled by the Vichy government were also of great concern to the British government.

In Algiers, the following vessels were located at three naval bases: in Mers-el-Kebir - 2 old battleships ("Provence" and "Brittany"), two new battlecruisers ("Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg"), the seaplane carrier "Commandant Test ", 6 leaders and a number of auxiliary ships; nearby, in Oran - 9 destroyers, 6 submarines, patrol ships and minesweepers; in the city of Algiers - 6 light cruisers and 4 leaders.

Also, from large ships in Africa, there were two more new French battleships of the same type - in Dakar (Senegal) - "Richelieu", and in the French part of Morocco, in Casablanca - the same type of unfinished "Jean Bar".

In Toulon, on the Mediterranean coast of France, 4 heavy cruisers were based. In America, on Guadeloupe, with two light cruisers (Emile Bertin and the training Jeanne d'Arc), there was an aircraft carrier Bearn built from the hull of an unfinished Normandy-class battleship. In the initial period of World War II, this ship led the search formation "L" of the French and British fleets, which was looking for the pocket battleship Kriegsmarine Graf Spee, and after the surrender of France, went to the shores of French possessions in the New World.

Volley "Catapult"

To neutralize the threat of the transition of the French fleet in one form or another under the control of Germany, the British planned a synchronous (the effect of surprise was needed everywhere) operation in the space from Guadeloupe to Alexandria. The attack on French ships around the world began on July 3, and only belatedly in Dakar on the 8th. A series of operations received the general name "Catapult".

The events of July 3 in England and Egypt have been mentioned above. The situation in the French West Indies was resolved just as bloodlessly: thanks to the personal intervention of the then-neutral US President Franklin Roosevelt, the attack of the British fleet on French ships did not take place. Later, under an agreement dated May 1, 1942 between the Vichy government and the United States, these ships were disarmed.

In North Africa on July 3, 1940, events developed in a completely different scenario. As early as June 24, Sir Dudley North, head of the British naval station in Gibraltar, met on board the Dunkirk with the French Admiral Jansoul. Zhansul refused North's proposal to go over to the side of Great Britain and continue the war with Germany, saying that he would only obey the orders of the French (Vichy) government. At the same time, Admiral Zhansul assured the British that not a single French ship would fall into the hands of the Germans.

Before the surrender of France, the Western Mediterranean was the area of ​​responsibility of the French fleet for the Allies, but now the British urgently formed a new “H” formation in Gibraltar to operate in this region. It was based on the battlecruiser Hood and the aircraft carrier Ark Royal. By June 30, the formation of a new formation, which included, in addition to Hood and Ark Royal, two old battleships, two light cruisers, eleven destroyers and two submarines, was completed. These forces took part in the attack on the French on 3 July.

The French forces in Mers-el-Kebir (a base in the western part of the Gulf of Orange), in addition to ships, included several coastal batteries with guns with a caliber of 75 to 240 millimeters. The base aviation of the French had, according to various sources, from 42 to 50 serviceable Hawk-75 and M.S.406 fighters.

Vice Admiral James Somerville, in command of Force H until the last moment, tried to dissuade the Admiralty from attacking the French ships. The Admiralty intended to offer Zhansul 4 options:

1. continuation of the war on the side of the British;
2. repatriation in a British port;
3. disarmament under British supervision;
4. sinking ships within 6 hours.

Somerville achieved that another option was added to this list, according to which the French were given the opportunity to withdraw to the French West Indies or to neutral US ports at that time, where the ships were to be demilitarized and transferred under American control (which happened in reality with ships in Guadeloupe).

For negotiations with Jeansoul Somerville chose the former naval attaché in Paris, Captain Holland, who had many friendly ties among French officers and was fluent in French. Despite the efforts of the captain, the morning negotiations on July 3 failed, including for the reason that the day before Admiral Zhansul received information about Germany's demand to withdraw all French ships from English ports to France under the threat of a truce. At 12:30 British Swordfish torpedo bombers from the Ark Royal dropped magnetic mines as they exited the net; the French fleet was locked up. The French battleships stood at the mooring wall astern to the sea, because of which the Dunkirk and Strasbourg were deprived of the opportunity to fire with their main caliber: both towers of each ship were located in the bow.

At 13:10 Somerville informed the French that if they refused to accept the ultimatum, he would open fire at 14:00. However, there was still a chance for a peaceful solution. Zhansul, in a response message, conveyed that he agreed not to take the ships to sea and would wait for the answer of the French government to the ultimatum put forward. At 14:00, the British did not open fire, limiting themselves to the fact that at half past two they dropped magnetic mines at the exit from the harbor of Oran.

At 15:00, Captain Holland again began negotiations with the French. Everything went to the fact that the French and the British would reach at least a temporary "gentlemen's agreement", which would consolidate the existing status quo: the French would not leave Mer-el-Kebir, and the British would no longer take hostile actions. But here chance intervened in the course of the negotiations.

The British Admiralty intercepted orders from the French Naval Ministry, according to which the cruiser squadrons in Algiers and Toulon were ordered to assemble at Oran and provide assistance to Jansul's blockaded ships. Given the fact that the use of aviation by France was prohibited by the armistice agreement with Germany, the German commission was warned about the need to use aircraft in North Africa. As expected, the Germans did not mind. Jansul received orders to respond force to force as early as 13:05, and when the Admiralty learned of this, it immediately radioed Somerville: “ Do the "deed" quickly or you'll have to deal with French reinforcements».

At 16:15, Somerville for the second time conveyed to Jansoul the threat to sink his ships. This time, time "X" was scheduled for 17:30.

Scheme of the initial phase of the battle in the harbor of Mers-el-Kebir on July 3, 1940

By this time, the French ships were already ready for battle and at 16:40 they received an order to leave the harbor. At 16:50, 3 French reconnaissance aircraft were lifted into the air, fighters were also ready to take off. At 16:54 the first British salvo was fired. The battle took place in extremely difficult conditions for the French. Immobile at the beginning, the French ships were a very convenient target for firing from 90 cable British gunners. The silhouettes of the French ships overlapped each other. On the one hand, this prevented them from firing on their own, on the other hand, the British "flights" often hit ships behind the intended target.

The ensuing approximately hour-long battle with the use of aviation ended with the sinking of one old French battleship Brittany, damage to the new Dunkirk and the second old battleship, as well as the successful breakthrough to Toulon of the practically intact Strasbourg. At the same time, the damage to Dunkirk turned out to be not critical, and early in the morning on July 6, the British launched an air raid in order to “finish off” it. As a result, the battleship received serious damage and was out of action until July 1941, when her partial repairs were completed at the limited capacity of Oran.

In tactical terms, the battle at Mers el Kebir was undoubtedly won by the British. Their cumulative losses amounted to only six aircraft, and most of the crews were saved. Only 2 crew members of the Skewey carrier-based aircraft were killed. The French in operations on July 3 and 6 lost, according to official figures, 1297 people. The battleship Brittany was lost forever, as were several smaller ships.

But on a strategic scale, the attack on Mers el-Kebir, as the bloodiest of the Catapult series of operations for the British, was a failure. The immediate task of destroying battleships was only partially completed. Diplomatic relations between Britain and Vichy France were immediately severed, and the French fleet, which was completely pro-English, began to consider the British adversaries.

The last episode of the Catapult was the attack by the British squadron on July 8, 1940 on the battleship Richelieu in Dakar. The French battleship was damaged by a torpedo dropped from an aircraft (the Hermes aircraft carrier was part of the attacking squadron), and after shelling the Resolution and Barchem battleships with 381-mm guns on the Richelieu, the main battery turret exploded.

deplorable results

As a result, Germany turned out to be the direct beneficiary of Operation Catapult. Relations between Britain and France were so damaged that the latter's Naval Office gave orders to attack any British ships, wherever they were. French ships from North Africa were transferred to Europe, to Toulon, which was relatively close to the German occupation zone. According to the memoirs of General de Gaulle, the influx of volunteers into the armed forces of the Free French was sharply reduced immediately after the events in Mers-el-Kebir.

But even Pétain's collaborationist government eventually decided that France had enough problems in connection with the occupation of half the country by Germany, and already on July 5 (even before the Dunkirk re-attack), the country's naval ministry issued a new order, according to which British ships should attack only in a 20-mile zone off the French coast. The next attempt at de-escalation was a statement by the French government on July 12, 1940, in which it was said that they would switch exclusively to defensive actions without the help of former enemies. Under the "former enemies" here meant Germany and Italy.

However, Operation Catapult was not the last armed clash between the Allies and the Vichy regime. Ahead were fighting in Equatorial and West Africa, in Syria and Madagascar. Vichy France's attempts to remain neutral were doomed to failure - in the conditions of the world war, there were practically no chances for this.

In November 1942, the German army occupied southern France, which had previously been under the control of the Vichy regime. The Germans also tried to capture the French fleet at Toulon. But the French sailors kept the promise they made to the British in 1940 - when German tanks appeared on the embankment, 77 French ships went to the bottom. Among the flooded were the battleships Strasbourg, Dunkirk and Provence, as well as the seaplane carrier Commandant Test. 4 French submarines and the pilot ship "Leonor Fresnel" managed to leave the harbor and break through to Algiers, Oran and Barcelona. The Germans still managed to capture 3 destroyers and 4 submarines.

Poster of Vichy France "Let's not forget Oran!"

"Catapult" is one of the most controversial and controversial operations of the Second World War. Great Britain, finding itself in a difficult situation, took such radical measures that even within its military and political elites, a rather deep split occurred on this issue. Already 9 years after the end of the war, in 1954, a meeting was held specially dedicated to the events of July 3-8, 1940, at which the British admirals Somerville and North voiced a negative assessment of the orders of their government 14 years ago. Admiral Cunningham, who managed in those days to peacefully resolve the issue of disarming French ships in Alexandria, was in complete agreement with them. The admirals believed that with more time at Mers el Kebir a peaceful solution could be found.

French battleship Dunkirk

"We have no eternal allies and we have no permanent enemies; our interests are eternal and constant. Our duty is to protect these interests."

Let's look at things from different angles...

Namely, the capture or destruction of French ships and their colonies around the world by the British, and the beginning of the Anglo-French war of 1940-1942 ...
So Churchill's version:
The French fleet was deployed as follows: two battleships, four light cruisers, several submarines, including one very large Surcouf; eight destroyers and about two hundred small but valuable minesweepers and submarine hunters were mostly at Portsmouth and Plymouth. They were in our power. In Alexandria were: a French battleship, four French cruisers (three of them modern cruisers armed with 8-inch guns) and a number of smaller ships. A strong English squadron guarded these ships. At the other end of the Mediterranean, in Oran and in the neighboring military port of Mers-el-Kebir, there were two of the best ships of the French fleet - Dunkirk and Strasbourg, modern battlecruisers, significantly superior to Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and built specifically for the purpose of surpassing these latter. The transfer of these ships into the hands of the Germans and their appearance on our trade routes would be an extremely unpleasant event. Together with them were two French battleships, several light cruisers, a number of destroyers, submarines and other ships. Algiers had seven cruisers, of which four were armed with 8-inch guns, while Martinique had an aircraft carrier and two light cruisers.
In Casablanca, there was the "Jean Bar", which had just arrived from Saint-Nazaire, but did not have its own guns. It was one of the main ships taken into account when calculating the naval forces of the whole world. Its construction was not yet completed and could not be completed in Casablanca. He could not be allowed to go anywhere else. Richelieu, whose construction was much closer to completion, came to Dakar. It could go under its own power and its 15-inch guns could fire. Many other French ships of lesser importance were in various ports. Finally, a number of warships at Toulon were beyond our reach.

England, which, as foreigners believed, was trembling on the verge of capitulation to the mighty power opposed to it. England dealt a severe blow to her best friends of yesterday and secured for herself temporary undisputed supremacy at sea. It became clear that the objective of Operation Catapult was to simultaneously seize all the French fleet available to us, establish control over it, disable or destroy it.
In the early morning of 3 July, all French ships at Portsmouth and Plymouth were brought under British control. The speech was unexpected and by necessity sudden. Outnumbered forces were used and the whole operation showed how easily the Germans could take possession of any French warships in ports under their control. In England, the transfer of ships, with the exception of the Surkuf, took place in a friendly atmosphere, and the crews willingly went ashore. On the Surkuf, two English officers were wounded, a foreman was killed and one sailor was wounded. One Frenchman was killed in the fight, but successful efforts were made to calm and cheer up the French sailors. Hundreds of sailors volunteered to join us. " Surcouf "after valiant service died on February 19, 1942 with all his brave French crew.
The death blow was to be struck in the western Mediterranean. Here in Gibraltar, Vice Admiral Somervell, with Force H, consisting of the battlecruiser Hood, the battleships Valiant and Resolution, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, two cruisers and eleven destroyers, received an order sent from the Admiralty at 2 hours 25 minutes on the morning of July 1:
"Be ready for the Catapult on July 3rd."
The admiral sailed at dawn and found himself near Oran about 9 hours 30 minutes morning.
The negotiations went on all day. AT 6 hours 26 minutes in the evening, the final order was sent:
"The French ships must either accept our terms, or sink themselves, or be sunk by you before dark."
But the operation has already begun. AT 5 hours 54 minutes later, Admiral Somervell opened fire on this powerful French fleet, which, moreover, was under the protection of its coastal batteries. At 6 pm, he reported that he was fighting a hard fight. The bombardment lasted about ten minutes, and was followed by fierce raids by our aircraft operating from the aircraft carrier Ark Royal. The battleship Brittany was blown up. The Dunkirk ran aground. The battleship Provence washed ashore, the Strasbourg escaped, and although she was attacked and damaged by torpedo bombers, she nevertheless reached Toulon in the same way as the cruiser from Algiers.
In Alexandria, after lengthy negotiations with Admiral Cunningham, French Admiral Godefroy agreed to unload fuel, remove important parts from the gun mechanisms and repatriate some of his crews. In Dakar on July 8, the aircraft carrier Hermes attacked the battleship Richelieu, which was also attacked by an exceptionally brave motor boat. The Richelieu was hit by an aerial torpedo and severely damaged. A French aircraft carrier and two light cruisers in the French West Indies were disarmed after lengthy negotiations and in accordance with an agreement with the United States.
On the 4th of July I reported in detail to the House of Commons what we had done. Although the battlecruiser Strasbourg had slipped away from Oran and we had no reports that the Richelieu was indeed put out of action, as a result of the measures we had taken, the Germans could no longer rely on the French fleet in their plans.
The elimination of the French fleet, as an important factor, almost in a single blow, by means of violent measures, made a deep impression in all countries. This was done by England, who was dismissed by many, thinking that she was helpless; England and her War Cabinet fear nothing and will stop at nothing.. So it was.
On July 1, the Petain government moved to Vichy and began to act as the government of unoccupied France. Having received the news from Oran, it ordered retaliatory measures - an air raid on Gibraltar, and several bombs were dropped from French bases in Africa on the port of Gibraltar. On July 5, it officially broke off relations with Britain. On July 11, President Lebrun gave way to Marshal Petain, who became head of state by a huge majority of 569 votes to 80, with 17 abstentions and many absent."
So you learned about the beginning of events from the words of Churchill, and now let's look from the other side.
After a treacherous attack from 1940 to 1942, England and unoccupied Germans part of France were at war!
Did you know about the biggest naval battle of World War II? I think it's unlikely. They tend to keep quiet about these pages of history ... A little prehistory.

After England betrayed its allies and hastily fled from Dunkirk... But Churchill tried to force France to fight to the last Frenchman, although he himself promised only to support with money... The French government, seeing the unreliability of its ally, refused to be led by the British.
On June 10, the Reynaud government, leaving Paris, turned to US President Roosevelt with a desperate request for help. The United States could have given Hitler an ultimatum to stop the advance in France. Finally, the Yankees could offer their intermediary services in the matter of concluding a truce. However, Roosevelt refused...
On June 22, 1940, at Compiègne, in the same carriage where the armistice was signed in 1918, the French representatives signed the capitulation.
Under the terms of the armistice, the southern part of France remained under the control of the Vichy government. The northern part of the country and the entire Atlantic coast were occupied by German troops. The entire French fleet remained subordinate to the Vichy government.
So, Germany did not want to have a defeated France as an ally, and demanded from the Pétain government to observe the strictest neutrality ...
Could French ships and small land units scattered throughout the colonies around the world - in Syria, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Equatorial Africa and Madagascar - somehow threaten England? Of course no!
AT July 1940 the formation of the Vichy government began in France not occupied by the Germans. And then the UK struck at its own defeated ally! An attack on him is an act of international robbery according to all international laws.
Until July 3, 1940, the soldiers and officers of the French colonial troops treated their recent allies as brothers in arms, friends and helpers, albeit not very successful in the fight against a strong enemy.By the way, the consequence of this treacherous attack on July 3, 1940 was that tens of thousands of French people wanted to join the ranks of volunteers to fight against the USSR and Britain as part of the German army!!!

Churchill decides to capture or destroy the French fleet and occupy all French colonies. Of course, he did not think about the war with Hitler, but about the post-war division of the world. The plan of attack on the French was called "Catapult" ...
As a result, the largest naval battle of World War II took place. Although this is not entirely accurate. Rather, a treacherous attack and execution of defenseless victims! This forgotten event happened July 3, 1940 city ​​in the Mediterranean Sea near Mers El Kebir near the port of Oran in modern Algeria, at that time it was French North Africa. Seven battleships, dozens of destroyers and submarines participated in the battle on both sides. In addition, it was the only battle where, in addition to battleships, carrier-based and coastal aviation, as well as coastal artillery, simultaneously participated.
Any strong navy is a thorn in the side of Britain.
Only she can be the mistress of the seas!

"Around the globe British water.
English ships are at Gibraltar.
Flights are innumerable. The wide path is open.
On the shore your cruiser is looking at India.
You left traces of anchors in Africa.
Britannia, Britannia, Lady of the Seas..."

By the way, let's remember her politics in the past. It is necessary to help the weak against the strong, otherwise he can rise and push Britain on a pedestal, and at the right time betray him. How were things in history? Oh yes, not so long ago, during the Napoleonic Wars, the British burned the fleet of the French royalists in Toulon, having learned that Bonaparte was approaching ...
What? Denmark wants to be neutral in the war? She has a good fleet ... They burned it twice with Copenhagen in 1801 and 1807. It's better that way ...
During the intervention in the RSFSR in 1918, what the British did not drown, they took for themselves. Neither white nor red, you do not need the Black Sea Fleet! In vain, perhaps, we forced him to destroy much earlier in the Crimean War and deprived him of the opportunity to have it for 15 years.

Chronicle of events:

On July 3, the English squadron of Admiral Sommerville, consisting of battleships, approached the French naval base of Mers-el-Kebir: "Valiant"

British battleship: Valiant

"Resolution"

aircraft carrier Ark Royal,

light cruisers "Aretyuza", "Enterprise" and eleven destroyers.
Here in Mers-el-Kebir, the French ships of Admiral Jansul were stationed, consisting of battleships: "Dunkirk"

, Strasbourg,

"Provence"

and "Brittany"

six leaders, the seaplane carrier Commandan Test

and dozens of auxiliary vessels.
Naval aviation was represented by six Loire-130 aircraft and three Bizerte flying boats, as well as four Loire-130 aboard the battleships Dunkirk and Strasbourg.
The air defense of Oran and Mers-el-Kebir consisted of 42 Moran-406 and Hawk-75 fighters at the airfields of La Seigna and Saint-Denis-Du-Sig.
In addition, the French had about fifty DB-7 and LeO-451 bombers, however, after several aircraft were hijacked by their crews to Gibraltar, the local aviation chief, Colonel Rougevin, ordered the rest of the bombers to be brought into a non-operational state.
There were French coastal batteries equipped with obsolete guns: the Canastel battery - three 240-mm guns; Fort Santon - three 194-mm guns; Battery Gambetta - four 120-mm guns and Battery Espanyol - two 75-mm guns.
If England had declared war on France at least on July 1, 1940, then the Sommerville squadron would have been waiting for an inevitable defeat. But it was not a war, but a sudden treacherous attack. The French sailors believed that the war was over for them, and the ships, in accordance with the terms of the truce, began to disarm. All battleships were moored astern to the breakwater and bowed to the shore, which was the usual way of mooring in peacetime. Thus, "Brittany" and "Provence" could fire only half of their main caliber artillery. "Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg" could not shoot at all. The ship's boilers were cold. Air reconnaissance of approaches to the base was not conducted. And in general, the pilots of the French Air Force, in principle, did not want to fight.
Admiral Sommerville gave French Admiral Jansol an ultimatum to place all ships under British control or scuttle them.
The surrender of the British ships would seriously undermine the position of France in future peace negotiations. It is not necessary to look at the events of 1940 through the prism of the victory of 1945. In the summer of 1940, Hitler, Pétain, Mussolini and many others were convinced that the conclusion of peace (at least in Western Europe) was a matter of a few weeks. More importantly, the Germans might consider handing over the ships to England as a violation of the terms of surrender and occupy Southern France.
During the negotiations, British spotter aircraft circled low over the French ships, relaying information to the British battleships, while the officers of the battleship Strasbourg prepared for the solemn meeting of their British colleagues and holding a large banquet.

Suddenly at 4:56 p.m. the British opened fire. The French could not respond accurately. As a result, the losses on the British battleships amounted to two people wounded, and even then this was the result of hits from shells of coastal guns. The battleship "Provence" received several hits of 381-mm shells, a strong fire broke out, and the ship lay on the ground at a depth of about 10 meters. The Dunkirk, which was also forced to run aground, received heavy damage. The Brittany also took hits before it pulled away from the pier. The battleship began to sink astern.

Burning battleship Brittany

A thick column of smoke rose above him. At 5:07 p.m. it was already engulfed in fire from bow to stern, and after 2 minutes it suddenly capsized and sank, taking the lives of 977 sailors with it.

The sinking of the battleship Brittany

Several Moran MS.406 and Curtiss Hawk 75 fighters finally took to the air, but for unclear reasons did not fire on the British torpedo bombers.

(Photo of the French destroyer Mogador. Breaking out of Mars el Kabir on July 3, 1940, she received a direct hit by a British 381-mm projectile in the stern, which led to the detonation of depth charges. The destroyer's stern was completely torn off and she ran aground.)

The battlecruiser "Strasbourg" with five destroyers broke into the open sea and headed for the main naval base on the southern coast of France - Toulon. At Cape Canastel, they were joined by six more destroyers that left Oran.

Battle cruiser Strasbourg

At 5:10 p.m. The Strasbourg and the destroyers accompanying it literally ran into the English aircraft carrier Ark Royal, which was heading on a collision course. However, the commander of the Strasbourg, Captain 1st Rank Louis Colline, missed a rare chance to sink a defenseless aircraft carrier with several salvos of 330-mm guns. He ordered not to open fire and go your own course. The commander of the Ark Royal did not appreciate the gallantry (or stupidity) of the Frenchman and lifted six Swordfish from the 818th squadron into the air. At 5:45 p.m. "Swordfish" began to bomb "Strasbourg". But none of the 227-kg bombs hit the ship, but two British aircraft were shot down by anti-aircraft fire.

Burning battleship "Provence"

At 19 o'clock. 43 min. six more Swordfish attacked Strasbourg. This time the British used torpedoes. Due to dense anti-aircraft fire, the Swordfish had to drop torpedoes more than a kilometer from the battlecruiser, which allowed her to evade in time. The nearest torpedo passed at a distance of 25 meters astern of the Strasbourg.

The battlecruiser Strasbourg is making a breakthrough:

July 4 at 20:10 Strasbourg, escorted by destroyers, went safely to Toulon. Soon six French cruisers from Algiers also came to Toulon.
During this passage, the patrol ship Rigaud de Genouilly on July 4 at 2.15 p.m. was torpedoed by the British submarine Pandora and sank.
The French were constantly let down by either excessive gallantry or excessive boasting. After the attack on Mers El Kebir, the press was told that "Dunkirk's damage was minor and would be repaired shortly." The British were upset and decided to finish off Dunkirk.

On July 6, 1940, Suodfish torpedo bombers from the Ark Royal aircraft carrier attacked the Dunkirk and other ships three times. After the raid, the French had to dig another 150 graves.
British attacks on French ships continued.

On July 7, an English squadron consisting of the aircraft carrier Hermes, the cruisers Dorsetshire and Australia, and the sloop Milford approached the French port of Dakar. On the night of July 7-8, a black-painted sabotage boat entered the port. The boat dropped 6 depth charges under the stern of the French battleship Richelieu to disable her rudders and propellers. However, due to the shallow depth, the fuses did not work. After 3 hours, the battleship was attacked by six Sourdfish from the Hermes aircraft carrier. Luck smiled at only one "Sourdfish" - its torpedo with a magnetic fuse passed under the bottom of the battleship and exploded at the starboard propellers. There was a hole in the hull with an area of ​​about 40 square meters. m, the ship took 1500 tons of water. In general, the damage was minor, but due to the lack of a proper repair base in Dakar, it took a whole year to bring the Richelieu into a state of readiness for going to sea.

The British did not let up and in September 1940 again attacked Dakar.

Vice Admiral Cunninghal's English unit M consisted of the battleships Barham and Resolution, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, the cruisers Devonshire, Fiji and Cumberland, 10 destroyers and several small ships.

The attack on Dakar resulted in a grandiose three-day battle involving battleships, submarines, base aircraft carriers, as well as coastal guns of 240 mm, 155 mm and 138 mm caliber. The British sank the French boats Perseus and Ajax. The city was engulfed in many fires. Civilian casualties 84 killed and 197 wounded.
However, the main goal of the British - the battleship "Richelieu" - remained intact. Both British battleships and the cruiser Cumberland were heavily damaged.
The failure in Dakar did not stop the British.

In 1941, Great Britain, under a formal pretext, occupied Syria and Lebanon, which France owned under a League of Nations mandate.French Somalia.In 1942, Great Britain, under the pretext of the possible use by the Germans of Madagascar as a base for submarines, carried out an armed invasion of the island. De Gaulle's troops also take part in this invasion. At that time, a collaborator sentenced to death by the French government... The French are fighting together with the British against the French... Perfect! Is not it? The cherished dream of the British came true: to drag chestnuts out of the fire with the wrong hands... The fighting lasted six months and ended with the surrender of the forces of the French state in November 1942...

During the fighting, 15 French submarines were sunk, that is, more than the Soviet Navy sank German submarines in the entire Great Patriotic War.

In the autumn of 1942, the Americans attacked the French colonies of Morocco and Algeria. November 8, the newest American battleship "Massachusetts",

US battleship Massachusetts

The heavy cruisers Tuscaloosa and Wichita, together with aircraft from the aircraft carrier Ranger, attacked the unfinished French battleship Jean Bar, which was in the harbor of Casablanca.

Only one 380-mm turret could operate on the French battleship, and she fired until a direct hit from a 406-mm projectile disabled her lifting mechanisms ...

November 27, 1942 year, under the threat of Nazi seizure of the remnants of their fleet, the French scuttled it in the harbor of Toulon.
In total, the French sank more than 70 ships, including three battleships, 7 cruisers, 30 destroyers and destroyers, and 15 submarines.

The remains of the battleship "Dunkirk" in Toulon

Dozens, if not hundreds of thousands of French civilians died during the bombing of French cities by Allied aviation in 1940-1944. Exact figures have not yet been calculated. But it is safe to say that in the Second World War the number of French people who died at the hands of the Germans is commensurate with the victims of the Anglo-Americans!

P.S. How I am amused by comments in communities from poorly educated anti-Soviet, liberals and schoolchildren. Regularly trying to say something nasty or refer to the greatest connoisseur of Wikipedia.)

English battleships Hood (left) and Valiant under return fire from the French battleship Dunkirk or Provence off Mers-el-Kebir. Operation "Catapult" July 3, 1940, around 17.00.

Operation Catapult- the general name of a series of operations to capture and destroy French ships in the English and colonial ports of the KVMF and Great Britain during the Second World War. The operation was carried out after the surrender of France, to prevent ships from falling under German control. The main episode of the operation was the attack by the British Navy of the French squadron in the port of Mers-el-Kebir on July 3, 1940.

According to article 8 of the Franco-German agreement on the cessation of hostilities, concluded at the end of June 1940, the French fleet was to arrive at the points determined by the command of the Kriegsmarine, and there, under the control of German or Italian representatives, disarm the ships and demobilize the teams. Despite the fact that the Vichy government, led by Marshal Petain and the commander of the fleet, Admiral Darlan, repeatedly stated that Germany would not get a single ship, the British government considered the possibility of them falling into the hands of the Germans. The ships of the fourth largest fleet in the world with German crews on board (or after the French crews went over to the German side) could no doubt pose a great threat to the English fleet.

The British command was especially worried about the fate of the ships located in the following ports: Mers-el-Kebir (2 new battlecruisers Dunkirk and Strasbourg, 2 old battleships, 6 destroyers, a hydro-aircraft carrier and several submarines), Algiers (6 light cruisers) , Casablanca (unfinished new battleship Jean Bar), Toulon (4 heavy cruisers), Dakar (new battleship Richelieu), Martinique (aircraft carrier Bearn and two light cruisers). As a result, the British government decided to take very risky measures.

Battleship "Strasbourg" under the fire of British artillery

With France out of the fight, the English fleet was able to cope with the combined naval forces of Germany and Italy. But the British, not without reason, feared that modern and powerful French ships could fall into the hands of the enemy and be used against them. After all, apart from Compound “X” neutralized in Alexandria and several cruisers, destroyers, the aircraft carrier “Bearn” and small ships scattered around the world, only two very old battleships “Paris” and “Courbet” found refuge in English ports. 2 super destroyers (leaders), 8 destroyers, 7 submarines and other trifles - no more than a tenth of the French fleet, judging by displacement, and complete insignificance, judging by their real strength. As early as June 17, Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet, Admiral Dudley Pound, reported to Prime Minister W. Churchill that in Gibraltar, under the command of Vice Admiral James Somerville, Compound "H" was concentrated, led by the battle cruiser "Hood" and the aircraft carrier "Ark Royal", which was supposed to follow for the movements of the French fleet.

When the armistice became a fait accompli, Somerville was ordered to neutralize the French ships that posed the greatest potential threat in the ports of North Africa. The operation was called "Catapult".

Portsmouth and Plymouth

On the night of July 3, 1940, the British attempted to capture French ships in British ports. The attack was so unexpected that only the crew of the Surcouf submarine, which was in Portsmouth, managed to provide armed resistance to the British, and a French midshipman, two British officers and a sailor were killed. Other ships captured were the obsolete dreadnoughts Paris and Courbet, two destroyers, eight torpedo boats and five submarines. The French crews of the ships were forcibly beached and interned "not without bloody incidents". Some of the crews of the captured ships were subsequently sent to France, while the rest were replenished by the teams of small and light ships operating as part of the Free French forces under the command of General de Gaulle. Many Frenchmen refused to join the Free French Navy because of the pro-British nature of this "government in exile".

Alexandria
In the port of Alexandria, the crews of the old battleship Lorian, four cruisers and several destroyers agreed not to leave their ships temporarily.

The explosion of the battleship Brittany

Oran and Mers el Kebir

In Sommerville's ultimatum. Written on behalf of "His Majesty's Government", after reminders of joint combat service, German perfidy and an earlier agreement of June 18 between the governments of Britain and France that, before capitulating on land, the French fleet would join the British or be scuttled, the French commander of naval forces in Mers el-Kebir and Oran were offered a choice of four options for action:

1) go to sea and join the British fleet to continue the fight until victory over Germany and Italy;

2) go to sea with reduced crews to go to British ports, after which the French sailors will be immediately repatriated, and the ships will be kept for France until the end of the war (full monetary compensation was offered for losses and damage);

3) in case of unwillingness to generally allow the possibility of using French ships against the Germans and Italians, so as not to violate the truce with them, go out under an English escort with reduced crews to French ports in the West Indies (for example, to Martinique) or to US ports, where ships will be disarmed and stored until the end of the war, and the crews will be repatriated;

4) in case of refusal of the first three options - to flood the ships within 6 hours.

The ultimatum ended with a phrase that should be quoted in full: "In the event of your refusal of the above, I have orders from His Majesty's Government to use all necessary forces to prevent your ships from falling into the hands of the Germans or Italians." This, simply put, meant that the former allies would open fire to kill.

The heavy cruiser "Algerie" in the 30s was considered one of the best heavy cruisers in the world and by far the best in Europe

The first two options Zhensul rejected immediately - they directly violated the terms of the truce with the Germans. The third was also hardly considered, especially under the influence of the German ultimatum received that morning: "Either the return of all ships from England or a complete revision of the terms of the truce." At 9 o'clock, Dufay transmitted to Holland the answer of his admiral, in which he stated that, since he had no right to surrender his ships without an order from the French Admiralty, and he could sink them according to the order of Admiral Darlan that remained in force only in case of danger of being captured by the Germans or Italians, it remains only to fight: the French will respond to force with force. Mobilization activities on the ships were stopped and preparations began for going to sea. It also included preparations for battle if necessary.

At 1050, the Foxhound raised the signal that if the terms of the ultimatum were not accepted, Admiral Somerville would not allow the French ships to leave the harbor. And in confirmation of this, at 12.30 British seaplanes dropped several magnetic mines on the main fairway. Naturally, this made negotiations even more difficult.

The ultimatum expired at 14:00. At 13.11, a new signal was raised on the Foxhound: “If you accept the proposals, raise a square flag on the mainmast; otherwise I open fire at 14.11. All hopes for a peaceful outcome collapsed. The complexity of the position of the French commander was also in the fact that on that day the French Admiralty was moving from Bordeaux to Vichy and there was no direct connection with Admiral Darlan. Admiral Jensul attempted to prolong the negotiations, raising in response a signal that he was waiting for a decision from his government, and a quarter of an hour later, a new signal that he was ready to receive the representative of Somerville for an honest conversation. At 1500 Captain Holland boarded the Dunkirk for talks with Admiral Jensul and his staff. The maximum that the French agreed to during a tense conversation was that they would reduce the crews, but they refused to withdraw the ships from the base. As time went on, Somerville's concern that the French would prepare for battle grew. At 4:15 pm, while Holland and Jensul were still trying to maintain friendly relations, a dispatch came from the British commander, ending all discussion: "If none of the proposals is accepted by 5:30 pm - I repeat, by 5:30 pm - I will be forced to sink your ships!" At 4:35 pm Holland left Dunkirk. The stage was set for the first clash between the French and the British since 1815, when the cannons of Waterloo were fired.

The hours that had passed since the appearance of the English destroyer in the harbor of Mers-el-Kebir were not in vain for the French. All ships parted pairs, the crews dispersed to combat posts. The coastal batteries that had begun to be disarmed were now ready to open fire. 42 fighters stood at the airfields, warming up the engines for the launch. All the ships in Oran were ready to go to sea, and 4 submarines were just waiting for the order to form a barrier between Capes Anguil and Falcon. Minesweepers have already cleared the fairway from English mines. An alarm was declared to all French forces in the Mediterranean, the 3rd squadron and Toulon of four heavy cruisers and 12 destroyers and six cruisers and Algeria were ordered to go to sea ready for battle and rush to connect with Admiral Jensul, about which he had to warn English.

The destroyer "Mogador" under the fire of the English squadron, leaving the harbor, was hit by an English 381-mm projectile in the stern.

And Somerville was already on a combat course. His squadron in the ranks of the wake was 14,000 meters north-north-west of Mers-el-Kebir, heading - 70, speed - 20 knots. At 16.54 (17.54 British time) the first volley was fired. Fifteen-inch shells from the Resolution fell close short of range into the pier behind which the French ships stood, covering them with a hail of stones and fragments. A minute and a half later, Provence was the first to respond, firing 340-mm shells right between the masts of the Dunkirk standing to its right - Admiral Zhensul was not at all going to fight at anchor, just a cramped harbor did not allow all ships to start moving at the same time (for this and the British counted!). The battleships were ordered to form a column in this order: Strasbourg, Dunkirk, Provence, Brittany. Super destroyers had to go to sea on their own - according to their ability. The Strasbourg, whose stern mooring lines and anchor chain had been given up even before the first shell hit the pier, began to move immediately. And as soon as he left the parking lot, a shell hit the pier, the fragments of which killed the halyards and signal yard on the ship and pierced the pipe. At 17.10 (18.10), Captain 1st Rank Louis Collins brought his battleship to the main fairway and headed for the sea with a 15-knot course. All 6 destroyers rushed behind him.
When a salvo of 381-mm shells hit the pier, the mooring lines were given up on the Dunkirk and the stern chain was poisoned. The tug, helping to weigh anchor, was forced to cut off the mooring lines when the second salvo also hit the pier. The Dunkirk commander ordered the tanks of aviation fuel to be emptied immediately, and at 1700 ordered to open fire with the main caliber. Soon 130-mm guns also came into play. Since Dunkirk was the closest ship to the British, Hood, a former partner in hunting down German raiders, concentrated its fire on it. At that moment, when the French ship began to move away from its anchorage, the first shell from the "Hood" hit him in the stern and. passing through the hangar and non-commissioned officers' cabins, he went through the side plating 2.5 meters below the waterline. This projectile did not detonate because the thin plates it pierced were not enough to cock the fuse. However, in its passage through Dunkirk, it broke part of the port side electrical wiring, disabled the crane motors for lifting seaplanes and caused the port side fuel tank to flood.

The return fire was quick and accurate, although distance determination was difficult due to the terrain and being between the Dunkirk and the British fort Santon.
Around the same time, Brittany received a hit, and at 17.03 a 381-mm projectile hit Provence, which was waiting for Dunkirk to enter the fairway to follow it. A fire started in the stern of the Provence and a large leak opened. I had to stick the ship to the shore with its nose at a depth of 9 meters. By 17.07, the fire engulfed the Brittany from bow to stern, and two minutes later the old battleship began to capsize and suddenly exploded, taking the lives of 977 crew members. The rest began to be rescued from the Kommandant Test hydro-air transport, which miraculously avoided hits during the entire battle.

The Dunkirk, entering the fairway with a 12-knot course, was hit by a volley of three 381-mm shells.

After these hits, only KO No. 3 and MO No. 2 continued to operate on Dunkirk, serving the internal shafts, which gave a speed of no more than 20 knots. Damage to the starboard cables caused a brief interruption in the power supply to the stern until the port side was turned on. I had to switch to manual steering. With the failure of one of the main substations, bow emergency diesel generators were turned on. Emergency lighting came on, turret #1 continued to fire quite frequently at the Hood.

In total, before receiving the ceasefire order at 17.10 (18.10), Dunkirk fired 40 330-mm shells at the English flagship, the volleys of which fell very tightly. By this point, after 13 minutes of shooting almost motionless ships in the harbor, the situation no longer looked unpunished for the British. "Dunkirk" and coastal batteries fired intensely, which became more and more accurate, "Strasbourg" with destroyers almost went to sea. The only thing missing was the Motador, which, when leaving the harbor, slowed down to let the tugboat through, and a second later received a 381-mm projectile in the stern. From the explosion, 16 depth charges were detonated and the stern of the destroyer was torn off almost along the bulkhead of the stern MO. But he was able to stick his nose to the shore at a depth of about 6.5 meters and, with the help of small vessels approaching from Oran, began to extinguish the fire.

The French destroyer "Lion" (fr. "Lion") was scuttled on November 27, 1942 by order of the Admiralty of the Vichy regime in order to avoid the capture by Nazi Germany of the ships that were on the roadstead of the naval base of Toulon. In 1943, she was raised by the Italians, repaired and included in the Italian fleet under the name "FR-21". However, already on September 9, 1943, it was again flooded by the Italians in the port of La Spezia (La Spezia) after the capitulation of Italy

The British, satisfied with the sinking of one and the damage of three ships, turned to the west and put up a smokescreen. "Strasbourg" with five destroyers went on a breakthrough. "Lynx" and "Tiger" attacked the submarine "Proteus" with depth charges, preventing her from attacking the battleship. The Strasbourg itself opened heavy fire on the English destroyer Wrestler, which was guarding the exit from the harbor, forcing it to quickly retreat under the cover of a smoke screen. French ships began to develop full speed. At Cape Canastel they were joined by six more destroyers from Oran. To the northwest, within firing range, the English aircraft carrier Ark Royal was visible, practically defenseless against 330-mm and 130-mm shells. But the fight didn't happen. On the other hand, six Swordfish with 124-kg bombs, escorted from the deck of the Ark Royal, escorted by two Skues, attacked the Strasbourg at 17.44 (18.44). But they did not achieve hits, and with dense and accurate anti-aircraft fire, one Skue was shot down, and two Swordfish were so damaged that they fell into the sea on the way back.

Admiral Somerville decided to give chase on the flagship Hood, the only one that could catch up with the French ship. But by 19 (20) o'clock the distance between "Hood" and "Strasbourg" was 44 km and did not think to be reduced. In an attempt to reduce the speed of the French ship, Sommerville ordered the Ark Royal to attack the retreating enemy with torpedo bombers. After 40-50 minutes, the Swordfish carried out two attacks with a short interval, but all the torpedoes dropped outside the curtain of destroyers passed by. The destroyer "Pursyuvant" (from Oran) informed the battleship in advance about the sighted torpedoes and "Strasbourg" each time had time to shift the steering wheel in time. The chase had to be stopped. Moreover, the destroyers following the Hood were running out of fuel, the Valient and Resolution were in a dangerous area without an anti-submarine escort, and there were reports from everywhere that strong detachments of cruisers and destroyers were approaching from Algeria. This meant being drawn into a night battle with superior forces. Compound H returned to Gibraltar on 4 July.

"Strasbourg" continued to leave at a 25-knot course until an accident occurred in one of the boiler rooms. As a result, five people died, and the speed had to be reduced to 20 knots. After 45 minutes, the damage was repaired, and the ship again brought the speed to 25 knots. Rounding the southern tip of Sardinia to avoid new clashes with Formation "H", and on 20.10 July 4, Strasbourg, accompanied by the leaders of "Volta", "Tiger" and "Terrible" came to Toulon.

On July 4, Admiral Esteva, commander of naval forces in North Africa, issued a communiqué stating that "the damage to the Dunkirk is minor and will be quickly repaired." This ill-advised statement prompted a swift response from the Royal Navy. On the evening of July 5, Compound "H" again went to sea, leaving the low-speed "Resolution" in the base. Admiral Somerville decided, instead of conducting another artillery battle, to act quite modernly - to use aircraft from the Ark Royal aircraft carrier to attack Dunkirk, which had landed on the shore. At 05.20 on July 6, while 90 miles from Oran, Ark Royal lifted 12 Swordfish torpedo bombers, escorted by 12 Skue fighters, into the air. The torpedoes were set to a speed of 27 knots and a travel depth of about 4 meters. The air defense of Mers el Kebir was not ready to repel the attack at dawn, and only the second wave of aircraft met more intense anti-aircraft fire. And only then followed the intervention of French fighters.

Unfortunately, the commander of the Dunkirk evacuated the servants of anti-aircraft guns ashore, leaving only the personnel of the emergency parties on board. The patrol vessel "Ter Neuve" stood at the side, taking some of the crew members and the coffins with the dead on July 3. During this sad procedure, at 06.28 a raid of British aircraft began, which went on the attack in three waves. The two Swordfish of the first wave dropped their torpedoes prematurely and they exploded on impact without causing any damage. After 9 minutes, the second wave approached, but none of the three torpedoes dropped hit Dunkirk. But one torpedo hit Ter Neuve, which was just in a hurry to move away from the battleship. The explosion literally tore the small ship in half, and the wreckage of its superstructure showered the Dunkirk. At 0650, another 6 Swordfish appeared with fighter cover. The link, which came from the starboard side, came under heavy anti-aircraft fire and was attacked by fighters. Dropped torpedoes again did not reach the target. The last group of three cars attacked from the port side, This time two torpedoes rushed to the Dunkirk. One hit the Estrel tug, which was about 70 meters from the battleship, and literally blew it off the surface of the water. The second, apparently with a faulty depth gauge, passed under the keel of the Dunkirk and, hitting the aft part of the wreckage of the Ter Neuve, caused the detonation of forty-two 100-kilogram depth charges, despite the absence of fuses in them. The consequences of the explosion were terrible. A hole about 40 meters long was formed in the starboard plating. Several belt armor plates were displaced, and water filled the side protection system. The steel plate above the armor belt was torn off by the force of the explosion and thrown onto the deck, burying several people under it. The anti-torpedo bulkhead was detached from its mount for 40 meters, other watertight bulkheads were torn or deformed. There was a strong roll to starboard and the ship settled with its nose so that the water rose above the armor belt. The compartments behind the damaged bulkhead were flooded with salt water and liquid fuel. As a result of this attack and the previous battle on the Dunkirk, 210 people were killed. There is no doubt that if the ship were in deep water, such an explosion would lead to its quick death.

A temporary plaster was put on the hole and on August 8 Dunkirk was dragged into free water. Repair work progressed very slowly. And where were the French in a hurry? Only on February 19, 1942, Dunkirk went to sea in complete secrecy. When the workers arrived in the morning, they saw their tools neatly stacked on the embankment and ... nothing more. At 23.00 the next day, the ship reached Toulon, carrying on board some of the scaffolding from Mers-el-Kebir.

English ships were not damaged in this operation. But they hardly fulfilled their task. All modern French ships survived and took refuge in their bases. That is, the danger that, from the point of view of the British Admiralty and the government, existed from the side of the former allied fleet, remained. In general, these fears seem somewhat far-fetched. Did the British consider themselves stupider than the Germans? After all, the Germans were able in 1919 to flood their fleet interned in the British base of Scapa Flow. But then, far from full crews remained on their disarmed ships, the war in Europe ended a year ago, and the British Royal Navy completely controlled the situation on the seas. Why, then, could it be expected that the Germans, who, moreover, did not have a strong fleet, would be able to prevent the French from sinking their ships in their own bases? Most likely, the reason that forced the British to treat their former ally so cruelly was something else ...

Burning and sunken French warships, photographed from an RAF aircraft the day after being sunk by their crews at the quay walls in Toulon

On November 8, 1942, the Allies landed in North Africa and a few days later the French garrisons ceased resistance. Surrendered to the allies and all the ships that were on the Atlantic coast of Africa. In retaliation, Hitler ordered the occupation of southern France, although this was in violation of the terms of the 1940 armistice. At dawn on November 27, German tanks entered Toulon.

In this French naval base at that time there were about 80 warships, and the most modern and powerful, collected from all over the Mediterranean - more than half of the tonnage of the fleet. The main striking force, the High Seas Fleet of Admiral de Laborde, consisted of the flagship battleship Strasbourg, the heavy cruisers Algiers, Dupleix and Colbert, the cruisers Marseillaise and Jean de Vienne, 10 leaders and 3 destroyers. The commander of the Toulon Naval District, Vice Admiral Marcus, had under his command the battleship Provence, the seaplane carrier Commandant Test, two destroyers, 4 destroyers and 10 submarines. The remaining ships (the damaged Dunkirk, the heavy cruiser Foch, the light La Galissoniere, 8 leaders, 6 destroyers and 10 submarines) were disarmed under the terms of the armistice and had only part of the crew on board.

But Toulon was crowded not only with sailors. A huge wave of refugees, urged on by the German army, flooded the city, making it difficult to organize defense and creating a mass of rumors that caused panic. The army regiments that came to the aid of the base garrison were strongly opposed to the Germans, but the naval command was more worried about the possibility of a repetition of Mers el-Kebir by the Allies, who brought powerful squadrons into the Mediterranean. In general, we decided to prepare for the defense of the base from everyone and flood the ships both in case of the threat of their capture by the Germans and the Allies.

At the same time, two German tank columns entered Toulon, one from the west, the other from the east. The first had the task of capturing the main shipyards and piers of the base, where the largest ships stood, the other was the command post of the district commandant and the Murillon shipyard.

Admiral de Laborde was on his flagship when word arrived at 0520 that the shipyard of Murillon had already been captured. Five minutes later, German tanks blew up the north gate of the base. Admiral de Laborde immediately radioed a general order for the fleet to sink immediately. The radio operators repeated it continuously, and the signalmen raised flags on the halyards: “Sink! Get drowned! Get drowned!

It was still dark and the German tanks got lost in the labyrinths of warehouses and docks of a huge base. Only at about 6 o'clock one of them appeared at the Milhod piers, where the Strasbourg and three cruisers were moored. The flagship had already moved away from the wall, the crew was preparing to leave the ship. Trying to do at least something, the tank commander ordered the cannon to be fired at the battleship (the Germans claimed that the shot happened by accident). A shell hit one of the 130 mm turrets, killing an officer and injuring several sailors who were setting demolition charges at the guns. Immediately, anti-aircraft guns returned fire, but the admiral ordered him to stop.

It was still dark. A German infantryman approached the edge of the pier and shouted at Strasbourg: "Admiral, my commander says you must surrender your ship intact."
De Laborde yelled back, "It's already sunk."
There was a discussion in German on the shore, and again the voice was heard:
"Admiral! My commander conveys his deepest respect to you!”

In the meantime, the ship's commander, having made sure that the kingstones in the engine rooms were open and there were no people left in the lower decks, gave a signal with a siren for execution. Immediately "Strasbourg" was surrounded by explosions - guns exploded one after another. Internal explosions caused the skin to swell, and the gaps and gaps formed between its sheets accelerated the flow of water into the huge hull. Soon the ship sat on the bottom of the harbor on an even keel, plunging 2 meters into the silt. The upper deck was 4 meters under water. Oil spilled from broken tanks.

Blown up by her crew and later partially dismantled French battleship Dunkirk (Dunkerque)

On the heavy cruiser Algiers, the flagship of Vice Admiral Lacroix, the stern tower was blown up. The Algiers burned for two days, and the cruiser Marseillaise, which sat next to the bottom with a 30-degree list, burned for more than a week. The Colbert cruiser closest to Strasbourg began to explode when two crowds of Frenchmen who fled from it and Germans trying to get on board collided at its side. The whistle of fragments flying from everywhere, people rushed about in search of protection, illuminated by a bright flame, set on fire on the catapult of the aircraft.

On board the heavy cruiser "Duplay", moored in the Missiesi basin, the Germans managed to climb. But immediately explosions began and the ship sank with a large roll, and then was completely destroyed by the explosion of the cellars at 08.30. They were also unlucky with the battleship Provence, although it did not start flooding longer than the others, because it received a telephone message from the headquarters of the commandant of the base captured by the Germans: “An order has been received from Monsieur Laval (Prime Minister of the Vichy government) that the incident has been settled.” When they realized that this was a provocation, the crew did everything possible so that the enemy did not get the ship. The maximum that the Germans could do, who managed to climb the tilted deck leaving from under their feet, was to declare prisoners of war the Provence officers and headquarters officials, led by the commander of the division, Rear Admiral Marcel Jarry.

Standing in the dock and having almost no crew, the Dunkirk was more difficult to flood. On the ship, they opened everything that could only let water into the hull, and then opened the dock gates. But it was easier to drain the dock than to raise the ship lying at the bottom. Therefore, everything that could be of interest was destroyed at Dunkirk: guns, turbines, rangefinders, radio equipment and optical instruments, control posts and entire superstructures were blown up. This ship never sailed again.

On June 18, 1940, in Bordeaux, the commander of the French fleet, Admiral Darlan, his assistant Admiral Ofan, and a number of other senior naval officers gave their word to representatives of the British fleet that they would never allow the capture of French ships by the Germans. They fulfilled their promise by sinking 77 of the most modern and powerful ships in Toulon: 3 battleships (Strasbourg, Provence, Dunkirk2), 7 cruisers, 32 destroyers of all classes, 16 submarines, Commandant Test hydro-air transport, 18 patrol and smaller ships.

Dakar

On July 8, 1940, the British squadron attacked French ships in Dakar, including the battleship Richelieu, which had just entered service. A torpedo dropped by one of the Hermes aircraft carrier exploded under the bottom of the battleship and caused severe damage, the ship's keel was bent over 25 meters. Then the British battleships opened fire. The French ship was first damaged by 381-mm shells from the battleships Barkhem and Resolution, and then there was an explosion in the main battery turret. Satisfied with this result, the British withdrew.

The French battleship "Bretagne" ("Bretagne", entered service in 1915) was sunk in Mers-el-Kebir during the operation "Catapult" by the English fleet.

Operation results

After attacking the French ships in their bases, the Vichy government broke off diplomatic relations with Great Britain. This operation complicated Anglo-French relations for many years. The British failed to destroy the latest battleships "Strasbourg", "Dunkirk" and "Jean Bar", while the dreadnoughts of the First World War were no longer of combat value. After repairing the damage, Dunkirk moved from Mers-el-Kebir to Toulon. Until 1942, the German command made no attempts to take possession of the French ships. When, on November 26, German troops entered Toulon and tried to capture French ships, faithful French sailors, at the first threat of their fleet being captured by the Germans, sank their ships. In November 1940, US President Roosevelt approached the head of the French government, Marshal Pétain, with a proposal to sell the unfit battleships Jean Bar and Richelieu, which were in Africa, but was refused. Only after the "Toulon tragedy" did the French agree to give one battleship to the Allies.

Let's recall some more interesting and not widely known events: or, for example, and who knows what The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -

The heavy cruiser "Algerie" in the 30s was considered one of the best heavy cruisers in the world and by far the best in Europe

With France out of the fight, the English fleet was able to cope with the combined naval forces of Germany and Italy. But the British, not without reason, feared that modern and powerful French ships could fall into the hands of the enemy and be used against them. After all, apart from Compound “X” neutralized in Alexandria and several cruisers, destroyers, the aircraft carrier “Bearn” and small ships scattered around the world, only two very old battleships “Paris” and “Courbet” found refuge in English ports. 2 super destroyers (leaders), 8 destroyers, 7 submarines and other trifles - in total no more than a tenth of the French fleet, judging by the displacement, and complete insignificance, judging by their real strength. As early as June 17, Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet, Admiral Dudley Pound, reported to Prime Minister W. Churchill that in Gibraltar, under the command of Vice Admiral James Somerville, Compound "H" was concentrated, led by the battle cruiser "Hood" and the aircraft carrier "Ark Royal", which was supposed to follow for the movements of the French fleet.

When the armistice became a fait accompli, Somerville was ordered to neutralize the French ships that posed the greatest potential threat in the ports of North Africa. The operation was called "Catapult".

Since no diplomatic negotiations could do this, the British, who were not accustomed to being shy in choosing means, had no choice but to use brute force. But the French ships were quite powerful, they stood in their own bases and under the protection of coastal batteries. For such an operation, an overwhelming superiority of forces was required in order to persuade the French to comply with the requirements of the British government or, in case of refusal, destroy them. The Somerville compound looked impressive: the battlecruiser Hood, the battleships Resolution and Valient, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, the light cruisers Aretheusa and Enterprise, and 11 destroyers. But he also resisted a lot - in Mers-El-Kebir, chosen as the main object of attack, there were the battleships Dunkirk, Strasbourg, Provence, Brittany, the leaders of the Volta, Mogador, Tiger, " Lynx", "Kersint" and "Terribl", seaplane carrier "Commandant Test". Nearby, in Oran (just a few miles to the east), there was a collection of destroyers, guards, minesweepers and unfinished ships transferred from Toulon, and in Algiers - eight 7800-ton cruisers. Since the large French ships at Mers-el-Kebir were moored to the pier with the stern to the sea and the bow to the shore, Somerville decided to use the element of surprise.

Formation "H" approached Mers-el-Kebir on the morning of July 3, 1940. Exactly at 7 o'clock GMT, the lone destroyer Foxhound entered the harbor with Captain Holland on board, who informed the French flagship at Dunkirk that he had an important message for him. Holland had previously been a naval attache in Paris, he was intimately known to many French officers, and in other circumstances Admiral Jensul would have received him cordially. Imagine the surprise of the French admiral when he learned that the "report" is nothing more than an ultimatum. And observers have already reported the appearance on the horizon of the silhouettes of British battleships, cruisers and destroyers. It was a calculated move by Somerville, reinforcing his truce with a show of force. It was necessary to immediately show the French that they were not joking with them. Otherwise, they could prepare for battle and then the situation would change radically. But this allowed Zhensul to play offended dignity. He refused to talk to Holland, sending his flag officer, Lieutenant Bernard Dufay, to negotiate. Dufay was a close friend of Holland and spoke perfect English. Thanks to this, the negotiations were not interrupted before they began.

In Sommerville's ultimatum. Written on behalf of "His Majesty's Government", after reminders of joint combat service, German perfidy and an earlier agreement of June 18 between the governments of Britain and France that, before capitulating on land, the French fleet would join the British or be scuttled, the French commander of naval forces in Mers el-Kebir and Oran were offered a choice of four options for action:

1) go to sea and join the British fleet to continue the fight until victory over Germany and Italy;

2) go to sea with reduced crews to go to British ports, after which the French sailors will be immediately repatriated, and the ships will be kept for France until the end of the war (full monetary compensation was offered for losses and damage);

3) in case of unwillingness to generally allow the possibility of using French ships against the Germans and Italians, so as not to violate the truce with them, go out under an English escort with reduced crews to French ports in the West Indies (for example, to Martinique) or to US ports, where ships will be disarmed and stored until the end of the war, and the crews will be repatriated;

4) in case of refusal of the first three options - to flood the ships within 6 hours.
The ultimatum ended with a phrase that should be quoted in full: "In the event of your refusal of the above, I have orders from His Majesty's Government to use all necessary forces to prevent your ships from falling into the hands of the Germans or Italians." This, simply put, meant that the former allies would open fire to kill.

English battleships Hood (left) and Valiant under return fire from the French battleship Dunkirk or Provence off Mers-el-Kebir. Operation "Catapult" July 3, 1940, around 17.00

Jensul rejected the first two options at once - they directly violated the terms of the armistice with the Germans. The third was also hardly considered, especially under the influence of the German ultimatum received that morning: "Either the return of all ships from England or a complete revision of the terms of the truce." At 9 o'clock, Dufay transmitted to Holland the answer of his admiral, in which he stated that, since he had no right to surrender his ships without an order from the French Admiralty, and he could sink them according to the order of Admiral Darlan that remained in force only in case of danger of being captured by the Germans or Italians, it remains only to fight: the French will respond to force with force. Mobilization activities on the ships were stopped and preparations began for going to sea. It also included preparations for battle if necessary.

At 1050, the Foxhound raised the signal that if the terms of the ultimatum were not accepted, Admiral Somerville would not allow the French ships to leave the harbor. And in confirmation of this, at 12.30 British seaplanes dropped several magnetic mines on the main fairway. Naturally, this made negotiations even more difficult.

The ultimatum expired at 14:00. At 13.11, a new signal was raised on the Foxhound: “If you accept the proposals, raise a square flag on the mainmast; otherwise I open fire at 14.11. All hopes for a peaceful outcome collapsed. The complexity of the position of the French commander was also in the fact that on that day the French Admiralty was moving from Bordeaux to Vichy and there was no direct connection with Admiral Darlan. Admiral Zhensul tried to prolong the negotiations, raising in response the signal that he was waiting for the decision of his government, and after a quarter of an hour - a new signal that he was ready to receive the representative of Somerville for an honest conversation. At 1500 Captain Holland boarded the Dunkirk for talks with Admiral Jensul and his staff. The maximum that the French agreed to during a tense conversation was that they would reduce the crews, but they refused to withdraw the ships from the base. As time went on, Somerville's concern that the French would prepare for battle grew. At 4:15 pm, while Holland and Jensul were still trying to maintain friendly relations, a dispatch came from the British commander, ending all discussion: "If none of the proposals is accepted by 5:30 pm - I repeat, by 5:30 pm - I will be forced to sink your ships!" At 4:35 pm Holland left Dunkirk. The stage was set for the first clash between the French and the British since 1815, when the cannons of Waterloo were fired.

The hours that had passed since the appearance of the English destroyer in the harbor of Mers-el-Kebir were not in vain for the French. All ships parted pairs, the crews dispersed to combat posts. The coastal batteries that had begun to be disarmed were now ready to open fire. 42 fighters stood at the airfields, warming up the engines for the launch. All the ships in Oran were ready to go to sea, and 4 submarines were just waiting for the order to form a barrier between Capes Anguil and Falcon. Minesweepers have already cleared the fairway from English mines. An alarm was declared to all French forces in the Mediterranean, the 3rd squadron and Toulon of four heavy cruisers and 12 destroyers and six cruisers and Algeria were ordered to go to sea ready for battle and rush to connect with Admiral Jensul, about which he had to warn English.

The destroyer "Mogador" under the fire of the English squadron, leaving the harbor, was hit by an English 381-mm projectile in the stern. This led to the detonation of depth charges and the stern of the destroyer was torn off almost along the bulkhead of the aft engine room. Subsequently, the Mogador was able to run aground and, with the help of small ships approaching from Oran, began to extinguish the fire

And Somerville was already on a combat course. His squadron in the ranks of the wake was 14,000 meters north-north-west of Mers-el-Kebir, heading - 70, speed - 20 knots. At 16.54 (17.54 British time) the first volley was fired. Fifteen-inch shells from the Resolution fell close short of range into the pier behind which the French ships stood, covering them with a hail of stones and fragments. A minute and a half later, Provence was the first to respond, firing 340-mm shells right between the masts of the Dunkirk standing to its right - Admiral Zhensul was not at all going to fight at anchor, just a cramped harbor did not allow all ships to start moving at the same time (for this and the British counted!). The battleships were ordered to form a column in this order: Strasbourg, Dunkirk, Provence, Brittany. Super destroyers had to go to sea on their own - according to their ability. The Strasbourg, whose stern mooring lines and anchor chain had been given up even before the first shell hit the pier, began to move immediately. And as soon as he left the parking lot, a shell hit the pier, the fragments of which killed the halyards and signal yard on the ship and pierced the pipe. At 17.10 (18.10), Captain 1st Rank Louis Collins brought his battleship to the main fairway and headed for the sea with a 15-knot course. All 6 destroyers rushed behind him.

When a salvo of 381-mm shells hit the pier, the mooring lines were given up on the Dunkirk and the stern chain was poisoned. The tug, helping to weigh anchor, was forced to cut off the mooring lines when the second salvo also hit the pier. The Dunkirk commander ordered the tanks of aviation fuel to be emptied immediately, and at 1700 ordered to open fire with the main caliber. Soon 130-mm guns also came into play. Since Dunkirk was the closest ship to the British, Hood, a former partner in hunting down German raiders, concentrated his fire on it. At that moment, when the French ship began to move away from its anchorage, the first shell from the "Hood" hit him in the stern and. passing through the hangar and non-commissioned officers' cabins, he went through the side plating 2.5 meters below the waterline. This projectile did not detonate because the thin plates it pierced were not enough to cock the fuse. However, in its passage through Dunkirk, it broke part of the port side electrical wiring, disabled the crane motors for lifting seaplanes and caused the port side fuel tank to flood.

The return fire was quick and accurate, although distance determination was difficult due to the terrain and being between the Dunkirk and the British fort Santon.
Around the same time, Brittany received a hit, and at 17.03 a 381-mm projectile hit Provence, which was waiting for Dunkirk to enter the fairway to follow it. A fire started in the stern of the Provence and a large leak opened. I had to stick the ship to the shore with its nose at a depth of 9 meters. By 17.07, the fire engulfed the Brittany from bow to stern, and two minutes later the old battleship began to capsize and suddenly exploded, taking the lives of 977 crew members. The rest began to be rescued from the Kommandant Test hydro-air transport, which miraculously avoided hits during the entire battle.

The Dunkirk, entering the fairway with a 12-knot course, was hit by a volley of three 381-mm shells. The first one hit the roof of the main gun turret #2 above the port of the right outer gun, severely denting the armor. Most of the projectile ricocheted and fell to the ground about 2,000 meters from the ship. A piece of armor or part of the projectile hit the charging tray inside the right "semi-tower", igniting the first two quarters of the powder cartridges being unloaded. All the servants of the "semi-tower" died in smoke and flames, but the left "semi-tower" continued to operate - the armored partition isolated the damage. (The battleship had four-gun turrets of the main caliber, divided inside among themselves. Hence the term "half-turret").

The second shell hit next to the 2-gun 130-mm starboard turret, closer to the center of the ship from the edge of the 225-mm belt and pierced the 115-mm armored deck. The projectile severely damaged the reloading compartment of the tower, blocking the supply of ammunition. Continuing its movement towards the center of the ship, it broke through two anti-shatter bulkheads and exploded in the air conditioning and fan compartment. The compartment was completely destroyed, all its personnel were killed or seriously injured. Meanwhile, in the reloading compartment on the starboard side, several charging shells caught fire and several 130-mm shells loaded into the elevator exploded. And here all the servants were killed. The explosion also occurred at the air duct to the forward engine room. Hot gases, flames and thick clouds of yellow smoke penetrated into the compartment through the armor grille in the lower armored deck, where 20 people died and only ten managed to escape, and all the mechanisms failed. This hit turned out to be very serious, as it led to a power outage due to which the fire control system failed. The intact nose turret had to continue firing under local control.

The third shell fell into the water next to the starboard side a little further aft from the second one, dived under the 225-mm belt and pierced all the structures between the skin and anti-tank guns, on impact with which it exploded. Its trajectory in the hull passed in the area of ​​KO No. 2 and MO No. 1 (outer shafts). The explosion destroyed the lower armored deck throughout these compartments, the armored slope above the fuel tank. PTP and starboard tunnel for cables and pipelines. The shell fragments caused a fire in the right boiler of KO No. 2, damaged several valves on the pipelines and broke the main steam pipeline between the boiler and the turbine unit. Escaping superheated steam with a temperature of 350 degrees caused fatal burns to the personnel of the KO, who were standing in open places.

After these hits, only KO No. 3 and MO No. 2 continued to operate on Dunkirk, serving the internal shafts, which gave a speed of no more than 20 knots. Damage to the starboard cables caused a brief interruption in the power supply to the stern until the port side was turned on. I had to switch to manual steering. With the failure of one of the main substations, bow emergency diesel generators were turned on. Emergency lighting came on, turret #1 continued to fire quite frequently at the Hood.

In total, before receiving the ceasefire order at 17.10 (18.10), Dunkirk fired 40 330-mm shells at the English flagship, the volleys of which fell very tightly. By this point, after 13 minutes of shooting almost motionless ships in the harbor, the situation no longer looked unpunished for the British. "Dunkirk" and coastal batteries fired intensely, which became more and more accurate, "Strasbourg" with destroyers almost went to sea. The only thing missing was the Motador, which, when leaving the harbor, slowed down to let the tugboat through, and a second later received a 381-mm projectile in the stern. From the explosion, 16 depth charges were detonated and the stern of the destroyer was torn off almost along the bulkhead of the stern MO. But he was able to stick his nose to the shore at a depth of about 6.5 meters and, with the help of small vessels approaching from Oran, began to extinguish the fire.

Burning and sunken French warships, photographed from an RAF aircraft the day after being sunk by their crews at the quay walls in Toulon

The British, satisfied with the sinking of one and the damage of three ships, turned to the west and put up a smokescreen. "Strasbourg" with five destroyers went on a breakthrough. "Lynx" and "Tiger" attacked the submarine "Proteus" with depth charges, preventing her from attacking the battleship. The Strasbourg itself opened heavy fire on the English destroyer Wrestler, which was guarding the exit from the harbor, forcing it to quickly retreat under the cover of a smoke screen. French ships began to develop full speed. At Cape Canastel they were joined by six more destroyers from Oran. To the northwest, within firing range, the English aircraft carrier Ark Royal was visible, practically defenseless against 330-mm and 130-mm shells. But the fight didn't happen. On the other hand, six Swordfish with 124-kg bombs, escorted from the deck of the Ark Royal, escorted by two Skues, attacked the Strasbourg at 17.44 (18.44). But they did not achieve hits, and with dense and accurate anti-aircraft fire, one Skue was shot down, and two Swordfish were so damaged that they fell into the sea on the way back.

Admiral Somerville decided to give chase on the flagship Hood, the only one that could catch up with the French ship. But by 19 (20) o'clock the distance between "Hood" and "Strasbourg" was 44 km and did not think to be reduced. In an attempt to reduce the speed of the French ship, Sommerville ordered the Ark Royal to attack the retreating enemy with torpedo bombers. After 40-50 minutes, the Swordfish carried out two attacks with a short interval, but all the torpedoes dropped outside the curtain of destroyers passed by. The destroyer "Pursyuvant" (from Oran) informed the battleship in advance about the sighted torpedoes and "Strasbourg" each time had time to shift the steering wheel in time. The chase had to be stopped. Moreover, the destroyers following the Hood were running out of fuel, the Valient and Resolution were in a dangerous area without an anti-submarine escort, and there were reports from everywhere that strong detachments of cruisers and destroyers were approaching from Algeria. This meant being drawn into a night battle with superior forces. Compound H returned to Gibraltar on 4 July.

"Strasbourg" continued to leave at a 25-knot course until an accident occurred in one of the boiler rooms. As a result, five people died, and the speed had to be reduced to 20 knots. After 45 minutes, the damage was repaired, and the ship again brought the speed to 25 knots. Rounding the southern tip of Sardinia to avoid new clashes with Formation "H", and on 20.10 July 4, Strasbourg, accompanied by the leaders of "Volta", "Tiger" and "Terrible" came to Toulon.

But back to Dunkirk. At 17.11 (18.11) on July 3, he was in such a state that it was better not to think about going to sea. Admiral Jensoul ordered the damaged ship to leave the fairway and go to the harbor of Saint-Andre, where Fort Saytome and the area could provide some protection from British artillery fire. After 3 minutes, "Dunkirk" complied with the order and anchored at a depth of 15 meters. The crew proceeded to inspect the damage. The results were disappointing.

Tower number 3 was out of order from a fire in the reloading compartment, the servants of which died. The starboard electrical wiring was broken and the emergency parties tried to restore the power supply to the combat posts by putting other circuits into action. The forward MO and its KO were out of order, as well as the elevator of tower No. 4 (2-gun 130-mm installation of the port side). Tower No. 2 (GK) can be controlled manually, but there is no power supply to it. Tower #1 is unharmed and powered by 400kW diesel generators. The hydraulic mechanisms for opening and closing the armored doors were disabled due to damage to the valves and storage tank. The rangefinders of the 330 mm and 130 mm guns do not work due to lack of power. The smoke from turret No. 4 forced us to batten down the bow 130-mm cellars during the battle. At about 8 p.m., new explosions occurred in the elevator of tower No. 3. What can I say, it's not fun. In this state, the ship could not continue the battle. But horrible, by and large, only three shells.

The French battleship "Bretagne" ("Bretagne", entered service in 1915) was sunk in Mers-el-Kebir during the operation "Catapult" by the English fleet. Operation "Catapult" was aimed at capturing and destroying French ships in English and colonial ports to prevent ships from falling under German control after the surrender of France

Luckily Dunkirk was in the base. Admiral Jensul ordered to stick him aground. Before touching the ground, the shell hole in the area of ​​​​KO No. 1, which caused the flooding of several fuel tanks and empty compartments on the starboard side, was sealed. The evacuation of unnecessary personnel immediately began; 400 people were left on board to carry out repairs. At about 19 o'clock, the tugboats Estrel and Kotaiten, together with the patrol ships Ter Neuve and Setus, pulled the battleship to the shore, where it ran aground at a depth of 8 meters with about 30 meters of the central part of the hull. It was a difficult time for the 400 people left on board. Plastering began in places where the skin had been pierced. After the full restoration of the power supply, they began the gloomy work of finding and identifying their dead comrades.

On July 4, Admiral Esteva, commander of naval forces in North Africa, issued a communiqué stating that "the damage to the Dunkirk is minor and will be quickly repaired." This ill-advised statement prompted a swift response from the Royal Navy. On the evening of July 5, Compound "H" again went to sea, leaving the low-speed "Resolution" in the base. Admiral Somerville decided, instead of conducting another artillery battle, to act quite modernly - to use aircraft from the Ark Royal aircraft carrier to attack Dunkirk, which had landed on the shore. At 05.20 on July 6, while 90 miles from Oran, Ark Royal lifted 12 Swordfish torpedo bombers, escorted by 12 Skue fighters, into the air. The torpedoes were set to a speed of 27 knots and a travel depth of about 4 meters. The air defense of Mers el Kebir was not ready to repel the attack at dawn, and only the second wave of aircraft met more intense anti-aircraft fire. And only then followed the intervention of French fighters.

Unfortunately, the commander of the Dunkirk evacuated the servants of anti-aircraft guns ashore, leaving only the personnel of the emergency parties on board. The patrol vessel "Ter Neuve" stood at the side, taking some of the crew members and the coffins with the dead on July 3. During this sad procedure, at 06.28 a raid of British aircraft began, which went on the attack in three waves. The two Swordfish of the first wave dropped their torpedoes prematurely and they exploded on impact without causing any damage. After 9 minutes, the second wave approached, but none of the three torpedoes dropped hit Dunkirk. But one torpedo hit Ter Neuve, which was just in a hurry to move away from the battleship. The explosion literally tore the small ship in half, and the wreckage of its superstructure showered the Dunkirk. At 0650, another 6 Swordfish appeared with fighter cover. The link, which came from the starboard side, came under heavy anti-aircraft fire and was attacked by fighters. Dropped torpedoes again did not reach the target. The last group of three cars attacked from the port side, This time two torpedoes rushed to the Dunkirk. One hit the Estrel tug, which was about 70 meters from the battleship, and literally blew it off the surface of the water. The second, apparently with a faulty depth gauge, passed under the keel of the Dunkirk and, hitting the aft part of the wreckage of the Ter Neuve, caused the detonation of forty-two 100-kilogram depth charges, despite the absence of fuses in them. The consequences of the explosion were terrible. A hole about 40 meters long was formed in the starboard plating. Several belt armor plates were displaced, and water filled the side protection system. The steel plate above the armor belt was torn off by the force of the explosion and thrown onto the deck, burying several people under it. The anti-torpedo bulkhead was detached from its mount for 40 meters, other watertight bulkheads were torn or deformed. There was a strong roll to starboard and the ship settled with its nose so that the water rose above the armor belt. The compartments behind the damaged bulkhead were flooded with salt water and liquid fuel. As a result of this attack and the previous battle on the Dunkirk, 210 people were killed. There is no doubt that if the ship were in deep water, such an explosion would lead to its quick death.

A temporary plaster was put on the hole and on August 8 Dunkirk was dragged into free water. Repair work progressed very slowly. And where were the French in a hurry? Only on February 19, 1942, Dunkirk went to sea in complete secrecy. When the workers arrived in the morning, they saw their tools neatly stacked on the embankment and ... nothing more. At 23.00 the next day, the ship reached Toulon, carrying on board some of the scaffolding from Mers-el-Kebir.

English ships were not damaged in this operation. But they hardly fulfilled their task. All modern French ships survived and took refuge in their bases. That is, the danger that, from the point of view of the British Admiralty and the government, existed from the side of the former allied fleet, remained. In general, these fears seem somewhat far-fetched. Did the British consider themselves stupider than the Germans? After all, the Germans were able in 1919 to flood their fleet interned in the British base of Scapa Flow. But then, far from full crews remained on their disarmed ships, the war in Europe ended a year ago, and the British Royal Navy completely controlled the situation on the seas. Why, then, could it be expected that the Germans, who, moreover, did not have a strong fleet, would be able to prevent the French from sinking their ships in their own bases? Most likely, the reason that forced the British to treat their former ally so cruelly was something else ...

The main result of this operation can be considered that the attitude of the French sailors towards the former allies, who until July 3 were almost 100% pro-English, has changed and, naturally, not in favor of the British. And only after almost two and a half years did the British leadership become convinced that its fears regarding the French fleet were in vain, and that hundreds of sailors died in vain on his instructions in Mers-el-Kebir. Faithful to duty, the French sailors, at the first threat of the capture of their fleet by the Germans, sank their ships in Toulon.

The French destroyer "Lion" (fr. "Lion") was scuttled on November 27, 1942 by order of the Admiralty of the Vichy regime in order to avoid the capture by Nazi Germany of the ships that were on the roadstead of the naval base of Toulon. In 1943, she was raised by the Italians, repaired and included in the Italian fleet under the name "FR-21". However, already on September 9, 1943, it was again flooded by the Italians in the port of La Spezia (La Spezia) after the capitulation of Italy

On November 8, 1942, the Allies landed in North Africa and a few days later the French garrisons ceased resistance. Surrendered to the allies and all the ships that were on the Atlantic coast of Africa. In retaliation, Hitler ordered the occupation of southern France, although this was in violation of the terms of the 1940 armistice. At dawn on November 27, German tanks entered Toulon.

In this French naval base at that time there were about 80 warships, and the most modern and powerful, collected from all over the Mediterranean - more than half of the tonnage of the fleet. The main striking force, the High Seas Fleet of Admiral de Laborde, consisted of the flagship battleship Strasbourg, the heavy cruisers Algiers, Dupleix and Colbert, the cruisers Marseillaise and Jean de Vienne, 10 leaders and 3 destroyers. The commander of the Toulon Naval District, Vice Admiral Marcus, had under his command the battleship Provence, the seaplane carrier Commandant Test, two destroyers, 4 destroyers and 10 submarines. The remaining ships (the damaged Dunkirk, the heavy cruiser Foch, the light La Galissoniere, 8 leaders, 6 destroyers and 10 submarines) were disarmed under the terms of the armistice and had only part of the crew on board.

But Toulon was crowded not only with sailors. A huge wave of refugees, urged on by the German army, flooded the city, making it difficult to organize defense and creating a mass of rumors that caused panic. The army regiments that came to the aid of the base garrison were strongly opposed to the Germans, but the naval command was more worried about the possibility of a repetition of Mers el-Kebir by the Allies, who brought powerful squadrons into the Mediterranean. In general, we decided to prepare for the defense of the base from everyone and flood the ships both in case of the threat of their capture by the Germans and the Allies.

At the same time, two German tank columns entered Toulon, one from the west, the other from the east. The first had the task of capturing the main shipyards and piers of the base, where the largest ships stood, the other was the command post of the district commandant and the Murillon shipyard.

Admiral de Laborde was on his flagship when word arrived at 0520 that the shipyard of Murillon had already been captured. Five minutes later, German tanks blew up the north gate of the base. Admiral de Laborde immediately radioed a general order for the fleet to sink immediately. The radio operators repeated it continuously, and the signalmen raised flags on the halyards: “Sink! Get drowned! Get drowned!

It was still dark and the German tanks got lost in the labyrinths of warehouses and docks of a huge base. Only at about 6 o'clock one of them appeared at the Milhod piers, where the Strasbourg and three cruisers were moored. The flagship had already moved away from the wall, the crew was preparing to leave the ship. Trying to do at least something, the tank commander ordered the cannon to be fired at the battleship (the Germans claimed that the shot happened by accident). A shell hit one of the 130 mm turrets, killing an officer and injuring several sailors who were setting demolition charges at the guns. Immediately, anti-aircraft guns returned fire, but the admiral ordered him to stop.

It was still dark. A German infantryman approached the edge of the pier and shouted at Strasbourg: "Admiral, my commander says you must surrender your ship intact."
De Laborde yelled back, "It's already sunk."
There was a discussion in German on the shore, and again the voice was heard:
"Admiral! My commander conveys his deepest respect to you!”

In the meantime, the ship's commander, having made sure that the kingstones in the engine rooms were open and there were no people left in the lower decks, gave a signal with a siren for execution. Immediately "Strasbourg" was surrounded by explosions - guns exploded one after another. Internal explosions caused the skin to swell, and the gaps and gaps formed between its sheets accelerated the flow of water into the huge hull. Soon the ship sat on the bottom of the harbor on an even keel, plunging 2 meters into the silt. The upper deck was 4 meters under water. Oil spilled from broken tanks.

Blown up by her crew and later partially dismantled French battleship Dunkirk (Dunkerque)

On the heavy cruiser Algiers, the flagship of Vice Admiral Lacroix, the stern tower was blown up. The Algiers burned for two days, and the cruiser Marseillaise, which sat next to the bottom with a 30-degree list, burned for more than a week. The Colbert cruiser closest to Strasbourg began to explode when two crowds of Frenchmen who fled from it and Germans trying to get on board collided at its side. The whistle of fragments flying from everywhere, people rushed about in search of protection, illuminated by a bright flame, set on fire on the catapult of the aircraft.

On board the heavy cruiser "Duplay", moored in the Missiesi basin, the Germans managed to climb. But immediately explosions began and the ship sank with a large roll, and then was completely destroyed by the explosion of the cellars at 08.30. They were also unlucky with the battleship Provence, although it did not start flooding longer than the others, because it received a telephone message from the headquarters of the commandant of the base captured by the Germans: “An order has been received from Monsieur Laval (Prime Minister of the Vichy government) that the incident has been settled.” When they realized that this was a provocation, the crew did everything possible so that the enemy did not get the ship. The maximum that the Germans could do, who managed to climb the tilted deck leaving from under their feet, was to declare prisoners of war the Provence officers and headquarters officials, led by the commander of the division, Rear Admiral Marcel Jarry.

Standing in the dock and having almost no crew, the Dunkirk was more difficult to flood. On the ship, they opened everything that could only let water into the hull, and then opened the dock gates. But it was easier to drain the dock than to raise the ship lying at the bottom. Therefore, everything that could be of interest was destroyed at Dunkirk: guns, turbines, rangefinders, radio equipment and optical instruments, control posts and entire superstructures were blown up. This ship never sailed again.

On June 18, 1940, in Bordeaux, the commander of the French fleet, Admiral Darlan, his assistant Admiral Ofan, and a number of other senior naval officers gave their word to representatives of the British fleet that they would never allow the capture of French ships by the Germans. They fulfilled their promise by sinking 77 of the most modern and powerful ships in Toulon: 3 battleships (Strasbourg, Provence, Dunkirk2), 7 cruisers, 32 destroyers of all classes, 16 submarines, Commandant Test hydro-air transport, 18 patrol and smaller ships.

There is a proverb that when English gentlemen are not satisfied with the rules of the game, they simply change them. contains many examples when the deeds of "English gentlemen" corresponded to this principle. “Rule, Britannia, by the seas!”… The reign of the former “mistress of the seas” was strange. Paid for with the blood of French sailors in Mess-El-Kebir, British, American and Soviet sailors in Arctic waters (hell we tell you when PQ-17 will be forgotten!). Historically, England would only be good as an enemy. Having such an ally is obviously more expensive for yourself.

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