Attack on Mers-el-Kébir

The Attack on Mers-el-Kébir, also known as Operation Catapult, was a hostile engagement off the coast of French Algeria where a British Royal Navy task force attacked and destroyed much of the French fleet stationed there, in an attempt to avoid its falling into the hands of the German Navy. This event shocked the world, as Britain had attacked and destroyed its ally's fleet despite reassurances from France that it would not let it fall into German hands. The incident took place on 3 July, 1940.

Background

In 1940, during World War II, following the armistice between France and Nazi Germany, the potential use of the French fleet against Britain became a vital concern. Such a shift in the balance of power at sea would have seriously threatened Britain's ability to protect her supply lines and jeopardise her chances of survival. The British government feared the Germans could take control of the ships, despite Armistice terms denying such a possibility and assurances by French leaders (indeed, a later German attempt resulted in the French fleet scuttling itself rather than allow German control of the fleet in 1942). It also emerged later that Hitler did not have the intention or the means to do so. 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 or Alexandria in Egypt. At the first stage of Operation Catapult, the ships in the British ports of Plymouth and Portsmouth were simply boarded on the night of 3 July 1940. 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. 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.

Other ships were the two obsolete battleships Paris and Courbet, the destroyers Le Triomphant and Léopard, eight torpedo boats, five submarines and a number of other ships of lesser importance. 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.

Ultimatum

The most powerful concentration of French warships at the time was the squadron located 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. The British Admiral James Somerville of Force H, based in Gibraltar, was ordered to deliver an ultimatum to the French, stating:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Somerville did not present the ultimatum personally. 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.

As negotiations dragged on, it became clear that both sides were unlikely to give way, with the French commander being loath to agree to demands made under the threat of British aggression. French Marine Minister Admiral Darlan never received the full text of the British ultimatum from Admiral Gensoul, most significantly with regards 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. While none of the Swordfish were lost, thanks to the escorting Skuas, one of the Skuas was shot down by French fighters and crashed into the sea, killing its crew. Those were the first and only fatalities of the conflict for the British .

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

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 guns, also fired a heavier broadside than the French ones.

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 July 4.

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, who 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 .

Aftermath

At Mers-el-Kebir, 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.

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

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

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 negotiations, the French Admiral agreed on 7 July to disarm his fleet and stay in port until the end of the war. They stayed there until 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, an operation known as Case Anton. The French scuttled all their ships including Dunkerque and Strasbourg.

Casualties

French casualties in the action were distributed thus:

Casualties of the action at Mers-el-Kébir

	Officers	Petty Officers	Sailors and Marines	Total
Bretagne	36	151	825	1012
Dunkerque	9	32	169	210
Provence	1	2		3
Strasbourg		2	3	5
Mogador		3	35	38
Rigault de Genouilly		3	9	12
Terre Neuve	1	1	6	8
Armen		3	3	6
Esterel	1	5		6
Total	48	202	1050	1300

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
• Le Terrible - Le Fantasque-class destroyer
• Lynx - Jaguar-class destroyer
• Tigre - Jaguar-class destroyer
• Kersaint - Vauquelin-class destroyer

Notes

External links

• A plan of the Mers-el-Kébir anchorage is available at http://www.hmshood.org.uk/reference/official/adm234/adm234-317.htm
• " Mers-El-Kebir" (1979) a French made-for-TV movie
• Churchill's Sinking of the French Fleet (3 July 1940)
• "Battle of Mers-el-Kebir", by Irwin J. Kappes, MilitaryHistoryonLine.com
• Transcript of 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: http://www.open2.net/historyandthearts/history/one_transcript_page.html