This week, seventy years ago, The Royal Navy, under the command of Vice Admiral James Somerville, opened fire on the bulk of the French Fleet while it lay at anchor at Mers-el-Kébir near Oran in Algeria. Thirteen Hundred French Sailors died.   
    When war came to Europe, the French Fleet was the second most powerful in Europe and the fourth most powerful in the world. The commander-in-chief of Marine Nacional was Admiral Jean François-Xavier Darlan.  In May 1940, as the Third Republic began to crumble, many of France’s leaders began thinking of their futures. Admiral Darlan considered, and treated, the French Fleet as his own. It certainly became his power base and bargaining chip.
    On June 11, 1940, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill visited France in an effort to boost the French government’s morale and to ensure that France would abide by its agreement to make no separate peace, and that if it did, that the French Fleet would not be surrendered to the Germans. If that happened it had the potential to be devastating to the British.  The combined fleets of Italy and France, and possibly Spain, could transform the Mediterranean into an Axis lake, closing the Suez Canal and effectively choking British commerce.
    As Churchill was leaving his final meeting with the French leaders, on June 12, 1940, he said to the Admiral, “Darlan, you must never let them get the French Fleet.” The Admiral replied that, “There’s no question of that. It would be contrary to our naval traditions and to our honor.”
    As the French Third Republic entered its death throes, the new French leader, Marshal Henri Pétain began stroking the Admiral, saying, on June 14, 1940, “We are lost.  We must therefore envisage forming a Consulate. Why shouldn’t you, Darlan, become the first Counsul?”  Everyone recognized Darlan’s importance.  Without the French Fleet, the Germans would grant France no terms. They would just continue to occupy the entire country. 
    As usual, Darlan played his cards close to the vest, saying, on the morning of June 15, 1940, that if, “...those bastards, Pétain and [General] Weygand [Commander-in-Chief of the French Army] wish to conclude an armistice...I’m leaving with the fleet.” However, by mid-afternoon, in the Grand Hotêl , the Admiral was seen consorting with those two “bastards.” Éduouard Hérriot, President of the Chamber of Deputies (the lower House of the French Parliament) commented, “The Admiral certainly knows how to swim!” The next day Admiral Darlan “swam” into the post of Minister of Marine, in a new government, led by Marshal Pétain, that sought an armistice from its German and Italian enemies.
    On June 17, 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent a message to Marshal Pétain and General Weygand, with copies for President Albert Lebrun and Admiral Darlan, saying,
    “I wish to repeat to you my profound conviction that the illustrious Marshal Pétain and the famous General Weygand ... will not injure their ally by delivering over to the enemy the fine French Fleet. Such an act would scarify their names for a thousand years of history. Yet this result may easily come by frittering away these few precious hours when the Fleet can be sailing to British or American ports, carrying with it the hope and honor of France.”
    The British P.M. was not so much concerned about the French doing the right thing as he was that the speed of the German advance would catch the Fleet in port. Even so, he was taking no chances and that same day, a message was sent to Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, that, “If France concludes a separate peace, every effort must be employed to see that the French Fleet passes under our authority - or, if not, to sink it.”
    On the morning of June 18, 1940, the American Ambassador to France, Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr., handed Admiral Darlan and the new Foreign Minister, Paul Baudouin, a note from President Franklin D. Roosevelt which warned that, “...should the French government, before concluding any armistice...fail to see that the fleet is kept out of the hands of her opponents, it will...fatally impair...the eventual restoration of French independence...
    Furthermore, should the French government...permit the French Fleet to be surrendered to Germany, the French government will permanently lose the friendship and goodwill of the government of the United States.”
    The prickly French Admiral replied that, “The chief of the French Navy needs no advice from the United States about what to do to defend its honor.” The Foreign Minister assured the Ambassador, “...that the French Fleet would never be surrendered to the enemy. There is no question of that.”
    In the meantime, Admiral Darlan was taking steps to ensure that the Germans did not capture the Fleet. The two newest battleships, Richelieu and Jean-Bart, were ordered to sail from the Atlantic ports of Brest and St. Nazaire, respectively, to French ports in Senegal and Morocco. The Admiral had also had quite enough of the British, and on June 21, ordered all French ships in British ports to sail to French ports in North Africa. But the British refused to allow them to leave. When a French Admiral complained to Admiral Cunningham, the British Admiral explained, “We have to win the war, not only for us, but for you, and all these trivialities and sob stuff about friendship and feelings must be swept aside.”
    On June 22, 1940, France and Germany concluded an Armistice which required the demobilization and disarming of the French Fleet. The Germans agreed that they would make no use of the fleet.  Two days later, Admiral Darlan ordered that, “Secret precautions for scuttling must be taken in case the enemy, or the ex-ally, tries to take over a ship and use it. In this case, without a new order, all ships must sail to the United States or scuttle themselves...In no case must they be left intact for the enemy.”
    However, the British didn’t trust the Germans or the Admiral. The Royal Navy’s Force H, under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville, appeared off St. André Mers-el-Kébir, near Oran, in French Algeria, at 9:00 A.M. on July 3, 1940. Laying at anchor were the French Battleships Provence and Bretagne; Battle Cruisers Dunkerque and Strasbourg; Sea Plane Tender Commandant Teste; Destroyers Mogador, Armen, Esterel, Volta, Terrible, Lynx, Tigre, and Kersaint; and patrol boat Terre-Neuve, under the command of Admiral Marsel-Bruno Gensoul.  Force H consisted of the Battle Cruiser Hood; the Battleships Resolution and Valiant, the Aircraft Carrier Ark Royal, Light Cruisers Arethusa and Enterprise, and Destroyers Faulknor, Foxhound, Fearless, Forrester, Foresight, Escourt, Keppel, Active, Wrestler, Vidette, and Vortigem.
    Captain Cedric (“Hooky”) Holland, who had served as Naval attaché in Paris and spoke fluent French, sailed into the French harbor aboard the Foxhound and delivered an ultimatum to the French Admiral - (1) join the British; (2) sail your ships to a British port; (3) sail them to the West Indies; (4) sail them to the U.S.; (5) scuttle them; or (6) we will sink them. The French Admiral was given six hours within which to respond. Insulted that the British had sent a captain to deliver the ultimatum, Admiral Gensoul sent a lieutenant, Bernard Dufay, to the negotiations. To make matters worse, Admiral Darlan was never informed that one of the options was sailing to the U.S.
    While the two sides were still talking, Fairey Swordfish, escorted by Blackburn Skuas, from the Ark Royal mined the exits of the French harbor. French Curtiss H-75 fighters intercepted the British planes, downing one of the Skuas, killing its crew. These would be the only British fatalities of the day.
    Finally, at 3:00 P.M., the French Admiral received the British captain aboard the Admiral’s flagship, the Dunkerque. The only decoration that Captain Holland wore was the French Legion of Honor. The discussions between the two got nowhere, with Admiral Gensoul giving his word that the French fleet would not be used by the Germans and showing Captain Holland Admiral Darlan’s secret order, and Captain Holland insisting that the French Admiral immediately select one of the six options. As the Captain departed the Dunkerque, Admiral Somerville radioed Admiral Gensoul that, “If one of our proposals is not accepted by 6:30 P.M., I shall have to sink your ships.”  In the meantime, Admiral Darlan, not having been informed of option #4, had ordered all French air and naval forces to go to the aid of the French Fleet trapped at Mers-el-Kébir. These forces included a squadron of six heavy cruisers at Algiers. Darlan’s order forced the British hand.
    At 6:54 P.M., on orders from Prime Minister Churchill, the British opened fire. Churchill told Admiral Somerville that, “You are charged with one of the most disagreeable and difficult tasks that a British Admiral has ever been faced with, but we have complete confidence in you and rely on you to carry it out relentlessly.” The Prime Minister later said that it was, “...a hateful decision, the most unnatural and painful in which I have ever been concerned.”
    The third salvo hit the magazine of the Bretagne, sinking it and killing 977 of its crew. Thirteen minutes had elapsed since the action began. The French ships were having difficulty bringing their big guns to bear because of the positioning of the guns on the ships and the positioning of the ships in the harbor.
    Provence, Dunkerque and Mogador were damaged and ran aground. The Strasbourg and four destroyers escaped and made it to the French naval base of Toulon the next day. That same day, the British sub Pandora sank the gunboat Rigault de Genouilly coming from Oran. On July 6, Fairey Swordfish, from the Ark Royal, renewed the attack, striking the Terre-Neuve, which was carrying a load of depth charges and was moored beside the Dunkerque. A huge explosion ensued, sinking the Terre-Neuve and further damaging the Dunkerque.
    Also on July 3, the French battleship Lorraine and four cruisers, under the command of Admiral René-Emile Godfrey, were blockaded in the port of Alexandria. After delicate negotiations with his friend, Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham, the French Admiral agreed to disarm his ships and to remain in port for the duration.
    The next day, the Prime Minister rose to address the House of Commons and to report the events of the previous day, “...with profound sadness.” At the conclusion of his report, the members stood and cheered loudly. Later, he would say that the French, “...finally fought with all their vigor for the first time since war broke out.”
    The same day, Hitler had issued a dispensation to the Armistice provision requiring the disarmament of the French Navy and Air Force so they might be used to repel, “...unjustified and dishonorable aggression by other powers.” The French Cabinet also met on that day. Ministers Admiral Darlan and Pierre Laval tried to convince Marshal Pétain and the rest to declare war on the “ex-ally,” Great Britain. Eventually, cooler heads prevailed and accepted Foreign Minister Baudouin’s proposal to sever diplomatic relations with the British.
    The final act of this tragedy, which the British had labeled “Operation Catapult” occurred on July 8, 1940, when planes from the HMS Hermes damaged, but did not sink, the Richelieu at the French port of Dakar in Senegal.
    Other than engendering the anger of the French, “Operation Catapult” demonstrated to the world, and the United States, in particular, that Great Britain was going to continue the fight. It also demonstrated to the British people the resolve and toughness of its new Prime Minister in those trying times. However, true to their word, the French, in November 1942, followed Admiral Darlan’s order of June 24, 1940, and scuttled the remainder of the fleet at its base in Toulon before the Germans could seize it .
    In 1979 a TV movie, “Mers-el-Kébir,” was released in France, with Alan Adair in the role of Admiral Somerville, Kavin Brennan as Churchill, Vernon Dobtcheff as Captain Holland, Raoul Curet as Admiral Darlan, and Yves Brainville as Admiral Gensoul.

Mr. Wimbrow writes from Ocean City, Maryland, where he practices law representing those persons accused of criminal and traffic offenses, and those persons who have suffered a personal injury through no fault of their own.