The heavy cruiser "Algerie" in the 30s was considered one of the best heavy cruisers in the world and certainly the best in Europe.
After France withdrew from the fight, the English fleet was able to deal with the combined naval forces of Germany and Italy. But the British, not without reason, feared that modern and powerful French ships might fall into the hands of the enemy and would be used against them. Indeed, apart from the neutralized in Alexandria Formation "X" and the several cruisers, destroyers scattered around the world, the aircraft carrier "Bearn" and small ships, only two very old battleships "Paris" and "Kurbe" found refuge in English ports. 2 super destroyers (leaders), 8 destroyers, 7 submarines and other trifles - just no more than a tenth of the French fleet, judging by their displacement, and a complete insignificance, judging by their real strength. On June 17, the 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, Formation H was being concentrated, led by the battle cruiser Hood and the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, which was supposed to monitor for the movements of the French fleet.
When the truce became a fait accompli, Somerville was ordered to neutralize the most potentially threatening French ships in the ports of North Africa. The operation was named "Catapult".
Since it was not possible to do this by any diplomatic negotiations, the British, who were not accustomed to being shy in the choice of means, had no choice but to use brute force. But the French ships were quite powerful, stationed in their own bases and under the protection of coastal batteries. Such an operation required an overwhelming superiority in forces in order to persuade the French to comply with the requirements of the British government or, in case of refusal, to destroy. Somerville's compound looked impressive: battle cruiser Hood, battleships Resolution and Valiant, aircraft carrier Ark Royal, light cruisers Arethusa and Enterprise, 11 destroyers. But he was opposed by many - in Mers-El-Kebir, chosen as the main target of the attack, there were battleships Dunkirk, Strasbourg, Provence, Brittany, the leaders of Volta, Mogador, Tiger, Lynx, Kersaint and Terribl, seaplane carrier Commandant Test. Nearby, in Oran (just a few miles to the east) there was a congregation of destroyers, patrol boats, minesweepers and unfinished ships transferred from Toulon, and in Algeria there were eight 7800-ton cruisers. Since the large French ships in Mers el-Kebir were moored to the pier stern towards the sea and bow to the shore, Somerville decided to use the surprise factor as well.
Formation "H" approached Mers el-Kebir on the morning of July 3, 1940. At exactly 7 o'clock GMT, the lone destroyer Foxhound entered the harbor with the Captain Holland on board, who informed the French flagship on the Dunkirk that she had an important report for him. Holland was formerly a naval attaché in Paris, many French officers knew him intimately and under other conditions Admiral Jensoul would have received him with all his cordiality. Imagine the surprise of the French admiral when he learned that the "report" is nothing more than an ultimatum. And observers have already reported on the appearance on the horizon of the silhouettes of British battleships, cruisers and destroyers. It was Somerville's calculated move, backing up his parliamentarian with a show of force. It was necessary to immediately show the French that they were not being joked with. Otherwise, they could prepare for battle, and then the situation would radically change. But this allowed Zhensul to play offended dignity. He refused to speak with Holland, sending his flag officer Lieutenant Bernard Dufay to negotiate. Dufay was a close friend of Holland and spoke excellent English. Thanks to this, the negotiations did not break off without starting.
In an ultimatum to Sommerville. Written on behalf of the "Government of His Majesty", after reminders of joint military service, the treachery of the Germans and the previous agreement of June 18 between the governments of Britain and France that before surrendering on land, the French fleet would join the British or flood, the French commander of the naval forces in Mers el-Kebir and Oran were offered four options to choose from:
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 saved for France until the end of the war (full monetary compensation was offered for losses and damage);
3) in case of reluctance at all to admit the possibility of using French ships against the Germans and Italians, so as not to violate the truce with them, go under an English escort with reduced crews to French ports in the West Indies (for example, Martinique) or to US ports where the ships will be disarmed and retained until the end of the war, and the crews repatriated;
4) in case of refusal from the first three options - to sink the ships within 6 hours.
The ultimatum ended with a phrase that should be quoted in its entirety: "In case of your refusal from the above, I have an order from His Majesty's government to use all the 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.
British 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 almost not considered, especially under the impression of the German ultimatum received the same morning: "Either the return of all ships from England or a complete revision of the terms of the armistice." At 9 o'clock, Dufay conveyed to Holland the answer of his admiral, in which he said that, since he had no right to surrender his ships without an order from the French Admiralty, and he could flood them, according to the order of Admiral Darlan, which remained in force, only in case of danger of capture 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 10.50 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, British seaplanes at 12.30 dropped several magnetic mines on the main channel. Naturally, this made the negotiation even more difficult.
The ultimatum expired at 2 pm. At 13.11 a new signal was raised at Foxhound: “If you accept the offers, raise the square flag on the mainmast; otherwise I open fire at 14.11 ". All hopes for a peaceful outcome were dashed. 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 Jensoul tried to prolong the negotiations, raising a signal in response that he was awaiting a decision from his government, and a quarter of an hour later - a new signal that he was ready to receive a representative of Somerville for an honest conversation. At 15:00 Captain Holland boarded the Dunkirk for talks with Admiral Jensoul 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 passed, Somerville's anxiety that the French would prepare for battle grew. At 16.15, when Holland and Jensoul were still trying to maintain friendly relations, a dispatch came from the British commander, ending all discussions: "If none of the proposals is accepted by 17.30 - I repeat, by 17.30 - I will be forced to sink your ships!" At 4.35 pm Holland left Dunkirk. The scene was set for the first clash between the French and the British after 1815, when the guns died down at Waterloo.
The hours that have passed since the appearance of the British destroyer in the harbor of Mers el-Kebir were not in vain for the French. All ships lit up pairs, the crews dispersed to their combat posts. The coastal batteries, which had begun to disarm, were now ready to open fire. 42 fighters stood at the airfields, warming up the engines for the launch. All ships in Oran were ready to go to sea, and 4 submarines were just waiting for an order to form a barrier between Anguil and Falcon Capes. The minesweepers were already sweeping the fairway from the British mines. All French forces in the Mediterranean were alerted, 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 hasten to connect with Admiral Jensul, about which he was supposed to warn Englishmen.
The destroyer "Mogador" under the fire of the British squadron, leaving the harbor, was hit by an English 381-mm shell in the stern. This led to the detonation of depth charges and the stern of the destroyer tore off almost the bulkhead of the aft engine room. Later, the "Mogador" was able to run aground and with the help of small ships that approached from Oran began to extinguish the fire
And Somerville was already on a combat course. His squadron in wake formation was 14,000 m north-northwest of Mers-el-Kebir, course - 70, speed - 20 knots. At 16.54 (17.54 UK time) the first volley was fired. Fifteen-inch shells from the "Resolution" fell by a close shortage into the pier, behind which stood the French ships, bombarding them with a hail of stones and debris. After a minute and a half, 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 anchors, just the 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 the following order: Strasbourg, Dunkirk, Provence, Brittany. Super destroyers were supposed 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 projectile hit the pier, the fragments of which broke the halyards and signal ray 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 in a 15-knot course. All 6 destroyers rushed after him.
When a volley of 381-mm shells hit the pier, the mooring lines were given up on the Dunkirk and the stern chain was poisoned. The tug, which helped to unanchor, was forced to chop off the mooring lines when the second salvo hit the pier. The Dunkirk commander ordered the immediate emptying of the tanks with aviation gasoline and at 17.00 gave the order to open fire with the main caliber. Soon the 130-mm guns came into play. Since the Dunkirk was the closest ship to the British, the Hood, a former partner in the hunt for the German raiders, concentrated its fire on it. At that moment, when the French ship began to withdraw from its berth, the first shell from the "Hood" hit him in the stern and. After passing through the hangar and non-commissioned officers' cabins, I left through the side plating 2.5 meters below the waterline. This projectile did not explode, since the thin plates that it pierced were not enough to trigger the fuse. However, in his movement through Dunkirk, he interrupted part of the port side wiring, disabled the crane motors for lifting seaplanes and caused the left side fuel tank to flood.
The return fire was quick and accurate, although the determination of the distance was made difficult by the terrain and the location between the Dunkirk and the British at Fort Santon.
At about the same time, Brittany got hit, and at 17.03 a 381-mm projectile hit the Provence, which was waiting for the Dunkirk to enter the fairway to follow. A fire started in the stern of the Provence and a large leak opened. I had to stick the ship to the shore with a bow at a depth of 9 meters. By 17.07 a fire engulfed the Brittany from bow to stern, and two minutes later the old battleship began to tip over and suddenly exploded, taking the lives of 977 crew members with it. The rest were rescued from the Commandant Test seaplane vehicle, which miraculously escaped being hit during the entire battle.
The Dunkirk, leaving the fairway with a 12-knot course, was hit by a salvo of three 381-mm shells. The first hit the roof of the main gun turret # 2 above the port of the right outer gun, heavily pressing in the armor. Most of the projectile ricocheted and fell to the ground about 2000 meters from the ship. A piece of armor or part of a projectile hit the charging tray inside the right "half-tower", igniting the first two-quarters of the powder caps being unloaded. All the servants of the "half-tower" died in smoke and flames, but the left "half-tower" continued to operate - the armored partition isolated the damage. (The battleship had four-gun turrets of the main caliber, divided internally among themselves. Hence the term "half-tower").
The second round struck near the 2-gun 130-mm turret on the starboard side, closer to the center of the ship from the edge of the 225-mm belt and pierced the 115-mm armored deck. The round seriously damaged the turret reloading compartment, blocking the supply of ammunition. Continuing its movement towards the center of the ship, it broke through two anti-fragmentation bulkheads and exploded in the air conditioning and fan compartment. The compartment was completely destroyed, all of its personnel were killed or seriously wounded. Meanwhile, in the loading compartment of 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 duct to the forward engine room. Hot gases, flames and thick clouds of yellow smoke penetrated the armored grill in the lower armored deck into the compartment, where 20 people died and only ten managed to escape, and all mechanisms were out of order. This hit turned out to be very serious, as it led to a power outage, which caused the fire control system to fail. The intact bow 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, dived under the 225-mm belt and pierced all the structures between the skin and the anti-tank gun, which exploded upon impact. Its trajectory in the hull passed in the area of KO No. 2 and MO No. 1 (external shafts). The explosion destroyed the lower armored deck along the entire length of these compartments, the armored bevel above the fuel tank. PTP and starboard tunnel for cables and pipelines. The shell fragments caused a fire in the right boiler KO # 2, damaged several valves on the pipelines and interrupted the main steam pipeline between the boiler and the turbine unit. The escaped superheated steam with a temperature of 350 degrees inflicted fatal burns on the personnel of the KO, who stood in open places.
After these hits, only KO # 3 and MO # 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 short interruption in the supply of electricity to the stern until they turned on the port side. 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 and Tower 1 continued to fire fairly frequently on the Hood.
In total, before receiving the ceasefire order at 17.10 (18.10), Dunkirk fired 40 330-mm shells at the British flagship, the volleys of which fell very tightly. By this time, after 13 minutes of shooting almost motionless ships in the harbor, the situation ceased to look unpunished for the British. "Dunkirk" and coastal batteries fired intensely, which became more and more accurate, "Strasbourg" with destroyers almost went out to sea. All that was missing was the "Motador", which, when leaving the harbor, slowed down to let the tug pass, and a second later received a 381-mm projectile in the stern. The explosion detonated 16 depth charges and the stern of the destroyer was torn off almost to the bulkhead of the stern MO. But he was able to stick his bow to the shore at a depth of about 6.5 meters and, with the help of small vessels that came from Oran, began to extinguish the fire.
Burning and sunken French warships photographed from a British Air Force plane the day after being sunk by their crews at the dock in Toulon
The British, satisfied with the sinking of one and the damage of three ships, turned to the west and set up a smoke screen. "Strasbourg" with five destroyers went to the breakthrough. Lynx and Tiger attacked the Proteus with depth charges, preventing it from attacking the battleship. The Strasbourg itself opened heavy fire on the British destroyer Wrestler, guarding the exit from the harbor, forcing it to retreat quickly under cover of a smoke screen. French ships began to develop at full speed. At Cape Canastel, they were joined by six more destroyers from Oran. To the northwest, within the firing range, the British aircraft carrier "Ark Royal" was visible, almost defenseless against 330-mm and 130-mm shells. But there was no fight. On the other hand, six Swordfish with 124-kg bombs raised from the deck of the Ark Royal, accompanied by two Skue, attacked 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 "Suordfish" were so damaged that on the way back they fell into the sea.
Admiral Somerville decided to give chase in the flagship Hood, the only one who could catch up with the French ship. But by 19 (20) hours the distance between "Hood" and "Strasbourg" was 44 km and did not think to decrease. In an attempt to reduce the speed of the French ship, Sommerville ordered the Ark Royal to attack the departing enemy with torpedo bombers. After 40-50 minutes, the Suordfish carried out two attacks with a short interval, but all the torpedoes dropped outside the curtain of the destroyers passed by. The destroyer "Pursuvant" (from Oran) informed the battleship in advance about the torpedoes seen and the "Strasbourg" managed 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 Valiant 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 dragged into a night battle with overwhelming forces. Formation H returned to Gibraltar on 4 July.
"Strasbourg" continued to leave at a 25-knot speed 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. Having rounded the southern tip of Sardinia to avoid further clashes with Formation H, and at 20.10 on 4 July, Strasbourg, accompanied by the leaders of the Volta, Tiger and Terribl, arrived in 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 Saytom and the terrain could provide some protection from British artillery fire. After 3 minutes, "Dunkirk" complied with the order and dropped anchor at a depth of 15 meters. The crew proceeded to inspect the damage. The results were disappointing.
Tower No. 3 was out of order from a fire in the transshipment room, the servant of which was killed. The starboard wiring was broken and the emergency crews tried to restore the power supply to the combat posts by activating other circuits. The bow MO and its KO were out of order, as well as the elevator of tower No. 4 (2-gun 130-mm installation of the left side). Tower 2 (GK) can be controlled manually, but there is no power supply to it. Tower # 1 is intact and powered by 400 kW diesel generators. The hydraulic mechanisms for opening and closing the armored doors are out of order due to damage to the valves and the storage tank. Rangefinders for 330mm and 130mm guns do not work due to lack of energy. The smoke from tower # 4 forced the 130-mm bow cellars to be battened down during the battle. At about 8 pm, new explosions occurred in the elevator of tower No. 3. Needless to say, it's not fun. In this state, the ship could not continue the battle. But, by and large, only three shells hit.
The French battleship "Bretagne" ("Bretagne", entered service in 1915) was sunk at Meers-el-Kebir during the British fleet's operation "Catapult". Operation "Catapult" was aimed at capturing and destroying French ships in British and colonial ports to prevent ships from falling under German control after the surrender of France
Fortunately, the Dunkirk was at the base. Admiral Jensul ordered to drive him to the shallows. Before touching the ground, a 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 repaired. The evacuation of unnecessary personnel began immediately, and 400 people were left on board to carry out repair work. At about 7 pm the tugs Estrel and Kotaiten, together with the patrol ships Ter Neuv and Setus, pulled the battleship to the shore, where it ran aground at a depth of 8 meters by about 30 meters of the central part of the hull. A difficult time began for the 400 people on board. The plaster began to be applied in the places where the skin was pierced. After the complete restoration of the power supply, the grim work of finding and identifying the dead comrades began.
On July 4, Admiral Esteva, commander of the naval forces in North Africa, issued a communiqué stating that "the damage to the Dunkirk is minor and will be quickly repaired." This reckless announcement prompted a quick response from the Royal Navy. On the evening of July 5, Formation H again went to sea, leaving the slow-moving Resolution in the base. Admiral Somerville decided instead of carrying out another artillery battle to act quite modern - to use aircraft from the aircraft carrier "Ark Royal" to attack the Dunkirk coastline. At 05.20 on 6 July, being 90 miles from Oran, Ark Royal took off 12 Suordfish torpedo bombers, accompanied by 12 Skue fighters. The torpedoes were set at a speed of 27 knots and a stroke depth of about 4 meters. The air defense of Mers el-Kebira was not ready to repel an attack at dawn, and only the second wave of aircraft met more intense anti-aircraft fire. And only then the intervention of French fighters followed.
Unfortunately, the commander of the "Dunkirk" evacuated the servants of the anti-aircraft guns ashore, leaving only the personnel of the emergency parties on board. The patrol ship "Ter Neuve" stood at the side, receiving some of the crew members and the coffins with the dead on 3 July. During this sad procedure, at 06.28 a raid of British aircraft began, attacking in three waves. Two Swordfish of the first wave dropped their torpedoes prematurely and they exploded on impact on the pier without causing any harm. After 9 minutes a second wave approached, but none of the three dropped torpedoes hit the Dunkirk. But one torpedo hit the Ter Neuve, which was in a hurry to move away from the battleship. The explosion literally ripped the small ship in half, and the debris of its superstructure showered the Dunkirk. At 06.50, 6 more Swordfish appeared with fighter cover. The flight, entering from the starboard side, came under heavy anti-aircraft fire and was attacked by fighters. The dropped torpedoes again missed their target. The last group of three vehicles attacked from the port side. This time two torpedoes rushed towards the Dunkirk. One hit the tug "Estrel", 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 Ter Neuve wreckage, detonated forty-two 100-kilogram depth charges, despite the lack of fuses. The consequences of the explosion were dire. A hole about 40 meters long was formed in the skin of the starboard side. Several of the belt armor plates were displaced and water filled the airborne protection system. By the force of the explosion, the steel plate above the armor belt was torn off and thrown onto the deck, burying several people underneath. The anti-torpedo bulkhead broke away from the mount for 40 meters, other watertight bulkheads were torn or deformed. There was a strong list to the starboard side and the ship sank forward so that the water rose above the armor belt. The compartments behind the damaged bulkhead were flooded with salt water and liquid fuel. This attack and the previous battle at Dunkirk killed 210 people. There is no doubt that if the ship were in deep water, such an explosion would lead to its rapid destruction.
A temporary plaster was put on the hole and on August 8, Dunkirk was dragged into free water. The renovation work progressed very slowly. And where was the French to hurry? Only on February 19, 1942, Dunkirk went to sea in complete secrecy. When the workers came in the morning, they saw their tools neatly folded on the embankment and … nothing else. At 23.00 the next day, the ship reached Toulon, carrying on board some of the stage from Mers-el-Kebir.
The British 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 look somewhat far-fetched. Did the English think they were stupider than the Germans? After all, the Germans were able in 1919 to flood their internees in the British Scapa Flow fleet. But then on their disarmed ships were far from full crews, a year after the war in Europe ended, and the British Royal Navy completely controlled the situation on the seas. Why 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 towards the former allies among the French sailors, who until July 3 were almost 100% pro-English, changed and, naturally, not in favor of the British. And only after almost two and a half years, the British leadership was convinced that his fears about the French fleet were in vain, and that hundreds of sailors died in vain on his instructions in Mers-el-Kebir. True to their 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 sunk on November 27, 1942 by order of the Admiralty of the Vichy regime in order to avoid the capture of Nazi Germany ships that were in the roadstead of the naval base of Toulon. In 1943, it 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 after the surrender of Italy.
On November 8, 1942, the Allies landed in North Africa and after a few days 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 ones, collected from all over the Mediterranean - more than half of the fleet's tonnage. The main strike force - Admiral de Laborde's High Seas Fleet - consisted of the flagship battleship Strasbourg, heavy cruisers Algeria, Dupleais and Colbert, cruisers Marseillaise and Jean de Vienne, 10 leaders and 3 destroyers. The commander of the naval district of Toulon, Vice Admiral Marcus, had under his command the battleship "Provence", the seaplane carrier "Commandant Test", two destroyers, 4 destroyers and 10 submarines. The rest of the ships (damaged Dunkirk, heavy cruiser Foch, light La Galissoniere, 8 leaders, 6 destroyers and 10 submarines) were disarmed under the terms of the armistice and had only a part of the crew on board.
But Toulon was not only overcrowded with sailors. A huge wave of refugees, spurred on by the German army, flooded the city, making it difficult to organize the defenses and creating a mass of rumors that drove out 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 repeat of Mers el-Kebir by the Allies, who had introduced powerful squadrons into the Mediterranean. In general, we decided to prepare for the defense of the base from everyone and to flood the ships both with 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 berths of the base, where the largest ships were stationed, the other was the command post of the district commandant and the Murillon shipyard.
Admiral de Laborde was on his flagship when it was reported at 05.20 that the Murillon shipyard had already been captured. Five minutes later, German tanks blew up the northern gates of the base. Admiral de Laborde immediately gave a general order to the fleet for immediate flooding by radio. The radio operators repeated it continuously, and the signalmen raised flags on the halyards: “Drown! Drown yourself! Drown yourself!"
It was still dark and the German tanks got lost in the labyrinth of warehouses and docks of the huge base. Only at about 6 o'clock one of them appeared at the Milkhod 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 a cannon to be fired at the battleship (the Germans assured that the shot had happened by accident). The shell hit one of the 130-mm turrets, killing the officer and wounding several sailors who were placing explosive charges at the guns. Immediately anti-aircraft guns opened fire back, but the admiral ordered to stop.
It was still dark. A German infantryman approached the edge of the dock and shouted at Strasbourg: "Admiral, my commander says that you must surrender your ship intact."
De Laborde shouted back: "It is already flooded."
A discussion ensued on the shore in German, and a voice rang out again:
“Admiral! My commander gives you his deepest respect!"
In the meantime, the ship's captain, having made sure that the kingstones in the engine rooms were open and there were no people left in the lower decks, gave a siren signal for execution. Immediately "Strasbourg" was surrounded by explosions - guns exploded one after another. Internal explosions caused the skin to swell and the cracks and breaks formed between its sheets accelerated the flow of water into the huge hull. Soon the ship landed on the bottom of the harbor on an even keel, plunging 2 meters into the silt. The upper deck was 4 meters under the water. Oil spilled all around from the ruptured cisterns.
The French battleship Dunkerque, blown up by her crew and later partially disassembled
On the heavy cruiser Algeria, the flagship of Vice Admiral Lacroix, the stern tower was blown up. "Algeria" burned for two days, and the cruiser "Marseillaise", which sank to the bottom with a 30-degree bank, burned for more than a week. The cruiser Colbert, closest to Strasbourg, began to explode when two crowds of French fleeing from it collided at its side and trying to climb aboard the Germans. The whistle of fragments flying from everywhere, people rushed about in search of protection, illuminated by the bright flame of the plane set on fire by the catapult.
The Germans managed to climb aboard the heavy cruiser Dupley, moored in the Mississi basin. But then the explosions began and the ship sank with a large heel, 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 sinking longer than others, since it received a telephone message from the base commandant's headquarters seized by the Germans: "An order from Monsieur Laval (Prime Minister of the Vichy government) has been received that the incident is over." When they realized that this was a provocation, the crew did everything possible to prevent the ship from falling to the enemy. The maximum that the Germans, who managed to climb onto the tilting deck that was leaving from under their feet, could do was to declare the Provence officers and staff officers led by the battalion commander Rear Admiral Marcel Jarry as prisoners of war.
Docked and barely crewed, the Dunkirk was more difficult to flood. On the ship, they opened everything that could let water into the hull, and then they opened the dock gates. But it was easier to drain the dock than to lift the ship lying on the bottom. Therefore, on "Dunkirk" everything that could be of interest was destroyed: guns, turbines, range finders, 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 the 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, the Commander Test seaplane transport, 18 patrol ships and smaller vessels.
There is a saying that when English gentlemen are not satisfied with the rules of the game, they simply change them. History contains many examples when the actions of "English gentlemen" were consistent with this principle. "Rule, Britain, the seas!" … The reign of the former "mistress of the seas" was strange. Paid with the blood of French sailors in Mess-El-Kebir, British, American and Soviet in the Arctic waters (damn it when we forget PQ-17!). Historically England would only be good as an enemy. To have such an ally is clearly more dear to himself.
