Attack on Mers-el-Kébir

Mers-el-Kebir Part of the Mediterranean Theater of World War II Battleship Strasbourg under fire Date 3 July 1940 Location Mers-el-Kébir, French North Africa Result Disabling of the French fleet Belligerents United Kingdom France Commanders Sir James Somerville Marcel-Bruno Gensoul Strength 1 aircraft carrier 2 battleships 1 battlecruiser 2 light cruisers 11 destroyers 4 battleships 6 destroyers 1 seaplane tender Casualties and losses 3 Blackburn Skua 3 Fairey Swordfish 6 dead 1 battleship destroyed 2 battleships heavily damaged 4 destroyers damaged 1,297 dead

v • d • e Battle of the Mediterranean Espero¹² – Mers-el-Kébir – Calabria¹² – Spada – Cape Passero¹ – Taranto – Strait of Otranto² – White¹ – Spartivento¹ – Excess¹ – Abstention – Souda Bay – Matapan – Tarigo² – Crete – Substance¹ – Halberd¹ – Duisburg² – Bon² – 1st Sirte¹² – Alexandria raid – 2nd Sirte¹ – Harpoon¹ – Vigorous¹ – Pedestal¹ – Agreement – Torch – Stone Age¹ – Toulon – Skerki² – Algiers¹ – Cigno² – Sicily – Olterra's campaign¹ – Sinking of Roma ¹ - Involved an Allied convoy • ² - Involved an Axis convoy

The Attack on Mers-el-Kébir, part of Operation Catapult and also known as the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir, was an engagement off the coast of French Algeria on 3 July 1940. A British Royal Navy task force attacked and destroyed much of the French fleet, killing 1,297. France and Britain were not at war, but France had signed an armistice with Germany, and Britain did not want the French fleet to end up as a part of the German Navy, which it feared the German-French armistice would allow. Although the French Admiral Darlan had given Winston Churchill assurances^[1] that the fleet would not fall into German hands, the British acted upon the assumption that Darlan's promises were insufficient guarantees.^[2] The attack demonstrated to the world, and to the United States in particular, Britain's determination to continue the war with Germany.^[3]

Events

Background

In 1940, during World War II, following the armistice between France and Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom became concerned about the transfer of the French fleet to Germany. A larger German fleet meant that the balance of power at sea might tip in Germany's favour rather than Britain's, thus changing Britain's ability to receive raw materials from across the Atlantic and the rest of its colonies. The British government feared the Germans could take control of the ships, despite Article 8 paragraph 2 of the Armistice terms, by which the German Government "solemnly and firmly declared that it had no intention of making demands regarding the French fleet during the peace negotiations" and similar terms in the armistice with Italy. Furthermore, on 24 June, Admiral Darlan had personally given assurances to Churchill against such a possibility^[4] (indeed, a later German attempt resulted in the French fleet scuttling itself in Toulon in 1942 rather than allow German control of the fleet). It also emerged later that Hitler did not have the intention or the means to do so.^[5] Winston Churchill ordered that the French Navy (Marine Nationale) should either join forces with the British Royal Navy or be neutralised in some way, to prevent the ships from falling into German or Italian hands.

The French fleet was widely dispersed. Some vessels were in port in France; others had escaped from France to British controlled ports, mainly in Britain itself and Alexandria in Egypt. Operation Catapult was to take the French ships into British control, or destroy them if that was not possible. In the first stage the ships in the British ports of Plymouth and Portsmouth were simply boarded on the night of 3 July 1940. On the then-largest submarine in the world, the Surcouf, which had sought refuge in Portsmouth in June 1940 following the German invasion of France, the crew resisted; two British officers and one French sailor were killed. Other ships were the two obsolete battleships Paris and Courbet, the destroyers Triomphant and Léopard, eight torpedo boats, five submarines and a number of less important ships. Many – including the Surcouf – went on to be used by the Free French forces. Some sailors joined the Free French while others were repatriated to France. The attack on the French vessels at port sowed anger amongst the French towards their ally and increased tension between Churchill and the leader of the Free French Forces, Charles de Gaulle.

Ultimatum

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

Somerville did not present the ultimatum personally. Instead, this duty fell to the French-speaking Captain Cedric Holland, commanding officer of the carrier HMS Ark Royal. Admiral Gensoul, affronted that negotiations were not being conducted by a senior officer, sent his own lieutenant, Bernard Dufay, which led to much delay and confusion.

Blackburn Skuas of No 800 Squadron Fleet Air Arm prepare to take off from HMS Ark Royal

As negotiations dragged on, it became clear that neither side was likely to give way. French Navy Minister Admiral Darlan never received the full text of the British ultimatum from Admiral Gensoul, most significantly with regard to the option of removing the fleet to American waters, an option which formed part of the orders, given to Gensoul by Darlan, to be followed should a foreign power attempt to seize the ships under his command.

Before negotiations were formally terminated, British Fairey Swordfish planes escorted by obsolete Blackburn Skuas were dispatched from the carrier Ark Royal to drop magnetic mines in the path of the French ships' route to sea. This force was intercepted by French Curtiss H-75 fighters. Thanks to the escorting Skuas, none of the Swordfish were lost, but one of the Skuas was shot down by French fighters and crashed into the sea, killing its crew. These were the only British fatalities in the conflict.^[6]

A short while later, on Churchill's instructions, the British ships opened fire against their former ally.^[5]

The Attack

The British force consisted of the battlecruiser HMS Hood, battleships HMS Valiant and Resolution and the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal plus an escort of cruisers and destroyers. Despite the approximate equivalence of force, the British had several decisive advantages. The French fleet was anchored in a narrow harbour and, despite the unequivocal terms of the ultimatum, was not expecting an attack and was not fully prepared for battle. The main armament of the Dunkerque and Strasbourg was grouped on their bows and could not immediately be brought to bear. The British capital ships, with their 15-inch (381 mm) guns, also fired a heavier broadside than the French ones.

Destroyer Mogador running aground

Battleship Bretagne exploding

The British opened fire at extreme range on 3 July 1940 at 16:56. The French eventually replied but ineffectively. The third salvo from the British force and the first to hit resulted in a magazine explosion aboard Bretagne, which sank with 977 of her crew dead at 17:09. After some thirty salvos, the French ships stopped firing. Meanwhile, the British force altered their course to avoid fire from the French coastal forts. Provence, Dunkerque and the destroyer Mogador were damaged and run aground by their crews.

Strasbourg managed to escape from the besieged port with four destroyers. As these five ships made for the open seas, they came under attack from a flight of bomb-armed Swordfish from Ark Royal, two of which were lost (their crews being rescued by the destroyer HMS Wrestler). The bombing attack had little effect, and Somerville ordered his forces to begin pursuing at 18:43. The British cruisers Arethusa and Enterprise reported engaging a French destroyer. At 20:20, Somerville called off the pursuit, feeling that his ships were ill-deployed for a night engagement. After weathering another Swordfish attack at 20:55 without damage, Strasbourg reached the French port of Toulon on 4 July.

Subsequently, on 4 July, the British submarine HMS Pandora sank the French aviso (gunboat) Rigault de Genouilly, sailing from Oran. That night, French bombers carried out a retaliatory raid against the British fleet at Gibraltar to no great effect. Since the British believed that damage to Dunkerque and Provence was not very serious, British Fairey Swordfish aircraft from Ark Royal raided Mers-el-Kebir the morning of 6 July. One torpedo hit the patrol boat Terre-Neuve, which was moored alongside Dunkerque and was carrying a supply of depth charges. Terre-Neuve quickly sank and its charges triggered in a huge explosion, causing serious damage to Dunkerque.^[7]

Aftermath

Memorial on the coastal path at Toulon to the French seamen who died during the British bombardment of their ships at Mers El Kebir.

At Mers-el-Kébir, 1,297 French sailors were killed and about 350 were wounded. Relations between Britain and France were severely strained for some time and the Germans received a propaganda coup. As retaliation several thousand Gibraltarian women and children, who had been evacuated to French-controlled Morocco were forcibly expelled and forced onto crowded and dirty transport ships at bayonet point, having to leave most of their belongings behind.

British Admiral Somerville was not enthusiastic about the action saying that it was "the biggest political blunder of modern times and will rouse the whole world against us…we all feel thoroughly ashamed…" ^[5] In fact the action demonstrated Britain's resolve to continue the war alone as well as rallying the British Conservative Party around Churchill (although Prime Minister Churchill was not party leader). Churchill himself later declared the action meant that for "high government circles in the United States ... there was no more talk of Britain giving in." Harold Nicolson reported the House of Commons to have been "fortified" by Churchill's report of the action.^[8]

The French ships in Alexandria under command of Admiral René-Emile Godfroy, including the old battleship Lorraine and four cruisers, were blockaded by the British in port on 3 July and offered the same terms as at Mers-el-Kébir. After delicate negotiations, conducted on the part of the British by Admiral Cunningham, the French Admiral agreed on 7 July to disarm his fleet and stay in port until the end of the war. They stayed there until they eventually joined the Allies in 1943.

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

Dunkerque, Provence and Mogador were partially repaired and sailed back to Toulon.

On 27 November 1942, the Germans attempted to capture the French fleet based at Toulon as part of Case Anton, the military occupation of Vichy France by Germany. All ships of any military value were scuttled by the French before the arrival of German troops, notably including Dunkerque and Strasbourg.

Casualties

French casualties in the action were distributed thus:

Orders of Battle

Royal Navy Order of Battle

• HMS Hood - Admiral Class Battlecruiser - Flagship of Force H
• HMS Resolution - Revenge Class Battleship
• HMS Valiant - Queen Elizabeth Class Battleship
• HMS Ark Royal - Ark Royal Class Aircraft Carrier
• HMS Arethusa - Arethusa Class Light Cruiser
• HMS Enterprise - Emerald Class Light Cruiser
• HMS Faulknor - Destroyer
• HMS Foxhound - Destroyer
• HMS Fearless - Destroyer
• HMS Forester - Destroyer
• HMS Foresight - Destroyer
• HMS Escort - Destroyer
• HMS Keppel - Destroyer
• HMS Active - Destroyer
• HMS Wrestler - Destroyer
• HMS Vidette - Destroyer
• HMS Vortigern - Destroyer

French Navy (Marine Nationale) Order of Battle

• Dunkerque - Battleship - flagship
• Strasbourg - Dunkerque-class battleship
• Bretagne - Battleship
• Provence - Bretagne-class battleship
• Commandant Teste - Seaplane tender
• Mogador - Destroyer
• Volta - Mogador-class destroyer
• Terrible - Fantasque-class destroyer
• Lynx - Jaguar-class destroyer
• Tigre - Jaguar-class destroyer
• Kersaint - Vauquelin-class destroyer

Notes

Sources

• Collier, Paul (2003). The Second World War (4): The Mediterranean 1940–1945'. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781841765396.  Online version at Google Books

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Attack on Mers-el-Kébir

• A plan of the Mers-el-Kébir anchorage, hmshood.org.uk
• Mers-El-Kebir (1979) a French made-for-TV movie
• Churchill's Sinking of the French Fleet (3 July 1940), digitalsurvivors.com
• Kappes, Irwin J. (2003) Mers-el-Kebir: A Battle Between Friends, Military History Online
• Transcript of The Battles of Britain, a BBC radio programme in which Michael Portillo argues that the action at Mers el Kabir was as important to British survival as the Battle of Britain

Coordinates: 35°43′10.18″N 0°41′20″W / 35.7194944°N 0.68889°W / 35.7194944; -0.68889