In 1940 as part of “Operation Catapult” the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir took place.
When the Battle of France ended on the 25th of May 1940 Germany now occupied France and the United Kingdom only had the might of its navy between them and a Nazi invasion. With the French Armistice signed Germany now controlled much of the French military hardware.
Great Britain wanted to remove the possibility of the Germans using French naval vessels against the Royal Navy despite French Admiral Francois Darlan’s reassurance that the Armistice prohibited the Germans from using the French Fleet. The armistice actually required the French Navy to return their ships to port where they would be disarmed by the Germans but not used in any way. This was little comfort to the British government because Germany had proven time and again that it didn’t value such agreements, including in the invasion of Czechoslovakia. The Allied agreement stated that neither country could surrender to Germany without notifying the ally. When France made it known to the British Government of their intent to surrender to Germany, Britain strongly request that the French naval fleet sail to British ports to prevent them falling into enemy hands. Many of the French Naval fleet did indeed sail to Britain but a larger fleet sailed to the Algerian port of Mers-el-Kébir.
On the 3rd of July The French ships in the British ports were immediately boarded and taken by the British naval officers to prevent any agreement between the French and Germans being acted on.
On the same day the British Vice-Admiral James Somerville and his naval fleet arrived in the Algerian port to deliver an ultimatum with four choices to the French Admiral Marcel-Bruno Gensoul stationed there.
(If either of these options is chosen than your ships would be repaired and returned to you at the end of the war. And Britain would pay compensation for any damage sustained)
If the Admiral refused these options than Somerville was under direct orders to attack and destroy the French fleet within six hours of delivering the Ultimatum. Admiral Gensoul refused all the options given to him by the British officer and he refused to meet with a British representative to discuss the issue. He did however make it known that French vessels would not take any action against the British fleet unless provoked. Reluctant to open fire on an allied naval force the British offered another option to the French fleet. They could sail for the US where they would be safe from German influence and they would be returned after the war. This option too was rejected by Admiral Gensoul who sent a message to French Fleet Admiral Darling informing him of the situation, but for what ever reason Gensoul only informed Darling of the British intention to sink the ships within six hours and failed to pass on any of the other options given by the British. Admiral Darling reacted by ordering all available French vessels to set sail for the port and aid the Admiral against any British attack.
The British intercepted this communication and informed Somerville of the approaching French vessels. Somerville had no choice but to open fire on the French fleet. They returned fire but to little affect. By the end of the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir the following day 1,297 French sailors died while Britain lost just two airmen that were shot down while laying sea mines in order to prevent escape. Relations between Britain and France were very strained after Operation Catapult and France even attempted to retaliate by bombing British ships at Gibraltar but with little effect. Germany enjoyed the opportunity for propaganda created by the situation.
As early as December of 1940 Germany began to plan operation Anton with the intention of taking control of the Vichy French government and all the remaining French Naval vessels to be used against the allies. On November 1942 Germany and Italy did indeed break the Armistice Agreement and occupy the French Vichy government. On the 27th of November 1942 French naval officers scuttled many battleships to avoid German capture. Some of the French vessels were captured by the Axis powers but allied bombing raids prevented their use in the war.
