The cruisers 1942 destruction of the French naval fleet by Vichy France

The attack came as a complete surprise to the Vichy officers, but Dornon transmitted the order to scuttle the fleet to Admiral Laborde aboard the Twenty minutes later, German troops entered the arsenal and started machine-gunning the French submarines. The French Navy consists of six main branches and various services: the As of June 2014, the French Navy employed a total of 36,776 personnel along with 2,800 civilians. German naval forces were cruising off the harbor to engage any ships attempting to flee, and laid The combat groups entered Toulon at 4 a.m. on 27 November and made for the harbour, meeting only weak and sporadic resistance. Its The history of French naval power dates back to the The symbol of the French Navy was since its origin a golden Cardinal Richelieu personally supervised the Navy until his death in 1643.During this century, the Navy cut its teeth in the The Navy regrouped and rebuilt, and within 15 years it was eager to join the fray when Within less than a decade, however, the Navy was decimated by the Other engagements of the Revolutionary Wars ensued in the early 1800s, including the After Napoleon's fall in 1815, the long era of Anglo-French rivalry on the seas began to close, and the Navy became more of an instrument for expanding the The Navy continued to protect colonial safety and expansion under the The 19th century French Navy brought forth numerous new technologies. From 11 November 1942 negotiations took place between Germany and Vichy France. Vichy French forces, particularly the fleet in Toulon, consisted mostly of French warships, small army garrisons, and shore batteries. Petty Officer Candidate begin training with five months at the Petty Officer School at Contract officers serve on an initial eight-year contract, renewable up to 20 years. It led the development of During the latter part of the century, French officers developed the so-called Between the World Wars, the Navy modernized and expanded significantly, even in the face of limitations set by the 1922 The Navy later provided fire support and troop transport in the Since 2000, the Navy has given logistical support to the The chief of the naval staff is Vice-amiral d’escadre During most of the Cold War, the Navy was organised in two squadrons based in Brest and Toulon, commanded by ALESCLANT (The French Naval Aviation is officially known as the Seamen must be at least 17 but no more than 24 years old, with a minimum level of schooling.
The French Navy presented a problem in itself.

While the German Naval War Staff were disappointed, Adolf Hitler considered that the elimination of the French fleet sealed the success of Case Anton.Most of the light cruisers were salvaged by the Italians, either to restore them as fighting ships or for scrap. In the same region, on 17 June, the auxiliary cruiser Pretoria Castle, one of the armed merchant ships used by the British to patrol distant waters, seized another Vichy ship, Desirade. At 4 a.m. the Germans entered Fort Lamalgue and arrested Marquis, but failed to prevent his chief-of-staff, Contre-Admiral Robin, from calling the chief of the arsenal, Contre-Admiral Dornon. On 11 November, as German and Italian troops encircled Toulon, the Vichy Secretary of the Navy, Admiral On the French side, as a token of goodwill towards the Germans, coastal defences were strengthened to safeguard Toulon from an attack from the sea by the Allies. The French, along with all other major naval powers, designed and began construction of 10,000 ton "treaty cruisers". The Vichy regime lost its last token of power, as well as its credibility with the Germans, with the fleet. The steamship Winnipeg, operating under the Vichy flag, was captured off Martinique in May by a Dutch gunboat. Cardinal Richelieu personally supervised the Navy until his death in 1643. The settlement was that Toulon should remain a "stronghold" under Vichy control and defended against the Allies and "French enemies of the government of the Marechal". The crews of The objective of Operation Lila was to capture the units of the French fleet at Toulon intact, and was carried out by the The Operation was initiated by the Germans on 19 November 1942, to be completed by 27 November. One of the Crews were initially hostile to the Allied invasion but out of the general anti-German sentiment and as rumours about Darlan's defection circulated, this stance evolved towards backing De Gaulle. He was succeeded by his protégé, Jean Baptiste Colbert, who introduced the first code of regulations of the French Navy, and established the original naval dockyards in Brest and Toulon. On 8 November 1942 the Allies invaded French North Africa in From 11 November 1942 negotiations took place between Germany and Vichy France. Operation Lila was a failure. French forces were commanded by Admiral Jean de Laborde (chief of the "High sea fleet", composed of the 38 most modern and powerful warships) and Admiral André Marquis (Under the armistice, French ships were supposed to have their fuel tanks almost empty; in fact, through falsification of reports and tampering with gauges, the crews had managed to store enough fuel to reach North Africa.