Churchill’s Sinking of the French Fleet (July 3, 1940)
On June 13, 1940, Winston Churchill took one of several trips to France during Hitler's Blitzkrieg. After convincing the French not to sign a separate armistice with Germany just two months prior, Churchill was now being begged to release them from the obligation. When a country loses its will to fight, there's not much you can do to inspire them to anything but quit.
That left Churchill with a loose-end on his mind: The French Fleet.
The French Fleet
By June 10, 1940, the French Army was shattered, but the French Navy was amazingly intact. François Darlan, the Admiral of the French Fleet told Churchill point-blank that the Fleet would be sunk before it was surrendered to the Germans.
Churchill later remarked of Admiral Darlan that he had "but to sail in any one of his ships to any port outside France to become the master of all French interests beyond German control." Darlan could have become "the chief of the French Resistance with a mighty weapon in his hand." Churchill believed the Admiral could have been the "Liberator of France".
But that was not to happen. Although Admiral Darlan was strong in his commitment to prevent the Germans from seizing a single French ship, Churchill was not convinced. Losing Britian's last fighting ally in the war is one thing, but allowing that ally's fleet to fall in the hands of the Germans was something to lose sleep over.
The concern was not over the French using their fleet to assist their new conqueror. The real concern was that Germany would train their own sailors to command those ships.
Members of Britain's own navy spent time with the commanders of the French Fleet. They were convinced that the commanders were dedicated to the cause of not surrendering to the Germans.
On June 17, France pressed for peace with Germany.
Before France could officially surrender, Churchill tried to convince his War Cabinet to attack the French Fleet. The War Cabinet refused. There were several concerns on the table. For one, the attack would surely result in the loss of British troops and ships. Second, although getting beaten by Germany and showing eagerness to throw in the towel, France was still an ally.
On June 24, France and Germany signed an armistice. Part of that agreement was the French could keep their ships, but Germany would gain control over items such as passports and tickets. Hitler treaded lightly concerning the ships and did not push for full ownership. He feared such aggression would inspire the French to keep fighting.
Hitler's concerns were not known to Britain.
However, on July 1, Churchill was finally able to get the backing of the War Cabinet to sink the ships if they would not be surrendered.
On July 3, the British surrounded the French Fleet at the port of Mers-el-Kebir right outside Oran, Algeria. Churchill's message was clear: sail to Britain, sail to the USA, or scuttle your ships in the next six hours. At first, the French refused to speak to negotiators. Two hours later, the French showed the British an order they had received from Admiral Darlan instructing them to sail the ships to the USA if the Germans broke the armistice and demanded the ships.
Meanwhile, the British intercepted a message from the Vichy Government ordering French reinforcements to move urgently to Oran. Churchill was done playing games and ordered the attack to his commanders, "Settle everything before dark or you will have reinforcements to deal with."
An hour and a half later, the British Fleet attacked. In less than ten minutes, 1,297 French soldiers were dead, and 3 capital ships along with 1 destroyer were damaged or destroyed.
British Response
While the French were furious over the events, the reaction in the UK was the exact opposite.
The day after attacking the French, Churchill went to the House of Commons to explain why he ordered the attack on the former ally. Churchill declared, "However painful, the action we have already taken should be, in itself, sufficient to dispose once and for all of the lies and Fifth Column activities that we have the slightest intention of entering into negations. We shall prosecute the war with the utmost vigour by all the means that are open to us."
For the first time since taking over as Prime Minister, Churchill received a unanimous standing ovation. Churchill had a message for the British, for Hitler, and for the world. The message was heard loud and clear.
The UK would not make peace with Hitler and they were in this war for the long haul.
Further Reading
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-1940 (1988) by William Manchester
The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won (2017) by Victor Davis Hanson
Winston Churchill, Myth and Reality: What He Actually Did and Said (2017) by Richard M. Langworth
The Second World War by Winston Churchill
Warlords: An Extraordinary Re-creation of World War II through the Eyes and Minds of Hitler, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin (Da Capo Press, 2006) by Simon Berthon and Potts, Joanna
Churchill as War Leader (New York, NY: Caroll & Graf Publishers, 1991) by Richard Lamb
Hi Mr. Manning,
I am doing an analytic research report on whether or not Winston Churchill’s decision to sink the French fleet in July of 1940 during World War II was appropriate for the situation. I really appreciated your article on this topic and would love to include some of your evidence in my paper; however, as it is not an officially published source, the International Baccalaureate program does not view it as credible. I was wondering if you could tell me which source was used for the different pieces of evidence, I would greatly appreciate that because I don’t have the resources to obtain copies of the listed sources. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Lexi G.
Hi Lexi,
I am glad you enjoyed the article. I wrote it a while ago, but I am still fond of it.
There were several sources I used. The biggest chunk of published primary sources can be found in volume 2 of the Churchill War Papers. http://www.amazon.com/The-Churchill-War-Papers-Surrender/dp/0393037460/
As for secondary sources, there are a slew of them. At the time, I believe I used Churchill as War Leader. http://www.amazon.com/Churchill-War-Leader-Richard-Lamb/dp/0881849375/
However, there are better secondary works such as volume 6 of Martin Gilbert’s biography. http://www.amazon.com/Winston-S-Churchill-Vol-1939-1941/dp/0395344026/
Carlo D’Este’s Warlord provides a lot of focus on the incident too. http://www.amazon.com/Warlord-Life-Winston-Churchill-1874-1945/dp/0060575743/
Now, all of these are from a British perspective, so it would also be worth looking into French and German sources, which I have not.
I hope that helps. Good luck on your work.
When I was in High School, I was given advice by a varsity football lineman that puts your question into perspective. He said whenever he felt depressed or bad about himself, he would pick out the most defenseless male in the locker room and beat him up. It made his team mates smirk and made himself feel good about dominating another male. Who cares about the victim, he’s not a FOOTBALL PLAYER!!!
Churchill did not attack Mers El Kabir to vanquish the already beaten French but to play to the Americans that he was in the war for the long haul. It matters not that the French kept their word at Touloun 1942 and scuttled their fleet. Churchill showed he could ‘Bring out the Beast’ if England were threatened. Churchill had expected Jeers & Boos. Instead, he received a standing ovation. FDR, was so impressed by Churchill’s despicable Act that he not only gave Churchill 50 obsolete 4 Stacker DD’s but then started illegally escorting ships and firing on UBoats which was illegal of Neutrals.
I too, am doing a paper on the Fall of France but from the perspective of the FRENCH AIR FORCE. The little evidence I have gleaned indicates The FRENCH Held back their fighters in order to get the RAF to send more squadrons into the fray. Why? The French wanted to so weaken England that she would be dragged down into defeat with France and French Military Honour saved.
This is the same pompous attitude that got them into the War with the Prussians in the first place. Imagined slights and easy to take offence. Saving face and their precious honour. The Ems Dispatch reminds me of the Iraq war in respect of dodgy dossiers. I noticed the Prussians wiped the floor with them.
History slams Napoleon III as the epitome of Stupidity however, he showed great wisdom during the Danish Question (1864) & the Six Weeks War. Austria’s King Franz Joseph offered France great riches if she would intervene to save the Austrian Empire during the Six Weeks War but Napoleon III did the business math and said no.
France’s’ best infantry weapon in Mexico was the Fusil d’infanterie de 17.8mm Model 1857 rifled musket which was clearly inferior to the Austrian M1862 Lorenz rifled musket, let alone Prussia’s Dryse Needle Gun Model 1842. Only with the Chassepot rifle in troops hands did Napoleon feel comfortable to take on the Bosch. Unfortunately, that was only a part of the war equation…
Read Wawro’s Austria-Prussian War & his follow up Franco Prussian War and you bang yer head against the wall. Nappie III attacks Prussia at 1-2 odds and has the bulk of the coal starved French Fleet Sitting in the Mediterranean. France lost 1870 the moment she went to war with Germany and 70 years later, Gamelin did the same thing—-lose the war in just two weeks!!!).
The French Army initially fought well during the Battle of France but were betrayed by their French Generals, esp Hunzenger who had Rommel bottled up at Sedan but stupidly withdrew.
The point about Admiral Darlan is especially tragic—-had he simply moved all the fleet to Neutral America, he could have been the next Bollenger and liberated France as an equal partner of the Americans instead of being Ike’s doormat, later to be assassinated. Tre Tragic!!!
Wouldn’t be surprised 1 bit about the French wanting to weaken the British. After all, they were a reluctant ally and had to have their arm twisted in order to oppose Germany militarily.
It would indeed be very useful to examine the French and German sources.
didnt the french fleet want to join but not surrender to the british fleet
a jones
If that was true, the Brits wouldn’t have attacked the French fleet. They were given the chance to sail away and join the Brits, but they did not. Instead, they just gave assurances that they would never surrender the ships to the Germans. The Brits couldn’t take that chance.
Only with the passage of TIME does the truth eventually ooze out, some of it mind numbing such as Pres. Lincoln’s decision to allow American Business Men to go down to the Confederate States, take their cotton, and travel up North to trade it for Union Guns & Ammunition to kill Federal Soldiers with it!!! The thought being was better that the Confederates bought their guns & ammo from America rather than get European Countries dependent on the trade…Or the almost ‘deal’ Great Britain entered into with Germany, during WWI, to trade British Rubber for German Optics because both combatants ‘were short of said supplies’.
Did it look bad for Churchill to stab his former ally in the back? Of course it did. But then again, you have to look at other variables. The French did everything they could think of to drag England down with them from Sabotaging army counter-attacks to withholding modern aircraft in order to get the RAF to bleed its self dry defending France. So, at the time of the Mers El Kabir attack (1940) the French couldn’t be trusted even if they were proven right at Toulon 1942. Second, the gambit worked—FDR crossed over to actively support the British, short of a declaration of war.
Third, you have to look at the character of Churchill himself TORY/LIBERAL/LABOUR your Opportunist Cause here. Churchill is a facinating character study as he was a force of nature. Yes, He was the right man at the right time. But, my God, the man had FLAWS. Churchill had no problem betraying his father’s legacy (Ulster will Fight and Ulster will be Right) and the Orange Men’s cause in Northern Ireland to deal with ‘THE IRISH QUESTION’—so the words betrayal and Churchill are interchangeable. When Chamberlain was forced to resigned, EVERYONE wanted Hallifax to be PM. When Chamberlain recommended Churchill, there was a COLLECTIVE GAG from the King on down!!! [Live Bait Squadron 1914, Antwerp 1914, Gallipoli 1915, his insane return to Gold Standard in 1925 which lead to the General Strike of 1926, his support for King Edward and ‘That Woman’ in the 30s—Churchill screwed up everything he ever put his hand to]. Only about late 1942 did Churchill hit his stride.
Me? Screw the French Fleet—Hitler should have seized the ITALIAN FLEET (by insisting upon KreigsMarine Integration). France should have been beaten in 1914 and went on to win the War and lose the Peace. Why? Because the Nation thirsted for revenge for 1870. France should have won 1940 but lost it by the 9th day. Why? Because of the Horrific losses of WWI, the French had no stomach for war and, in many places, simply walked home!!!
“In less than ten minutes, 1,297 French soldiers were dead” with friends like that, who need enemies?
This was the beginning of a world war you know and the French were given time to diffuse the situation and abandon their ships or sail them to a safe country, all of which they refused to do. Plus we were allies and many, many British lives were lost in trying to defend France so you think that the French may have been a bit more keen to go along with and help their closest ally. But oh no, they would have none of it. In times of war sometimes awful decisions have to be made and terribly sad as it was, unfortunately this was one of them. If Churchill had of stood back and done nothing and the French ships had of come under German control ( a real possibility ) than the results may have been catastrophic for the free world, let alone just Britain and many more than the 1297 lives would have been lost, as terribly sad and regrettable as that was.
Note : The French fleet was comprised of a lot more than 9 ships in one harbor.
if the french fleet joined the german fleet they win ww2
The French promised the UK they would not capitulate but they did. We had the Germans and the Italians – with a very large navy – ranged against us and with France gone the UK could not risk the French fleet being taken over by Germany. Admiral Gensoul could have saved the day by sailing away to the US however, he chose not to do that (even when we no know his orders suggested he do that). When you’re at war you do what’s necessary to win.
Dunkirk , was for the french a way to escape their promise , we couldn’t blame them for that
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I think my uncle’s were in this French Navy, from Algiers, Joseph and Pasquale Font.
It had to be done, the RN had no alternative as the French could not be trusted. They have always opposed Gt Britain right up to the present day under Macron.
Very Interesting reading this article and posts. My father was a boy in Alexandria at the time. Some of the French fleet was brought into Alexandria and impounded there by the RN. The matelots were ‘interned’ to the extent that they had the run of Alexandria and enjoyed that city’s hospitality, including Admiral Darlan, as a guest in my grandparent’s home. From their experience of him, he was, without doubt a Vichy sympathiser and Churchill’s government had had little choice but make the grave decision they did.
It was clearly the right decision to sink what they could – tough one though it was for Churchill. On 20 October Hitler, accompanied by Ribbentrop, set out in his Special Train for southern France, bound first of all for a meeting, two days later, with Pierre Laval, Pétain’s deputy and foreign minister in the Vichy regime. This proved encouraging. Laval, full of unctuous humility, opened up the prospect of close French collaboration with Germany, hoping for France’s reward through retention of its African possessions and release from heavy reparations – both at the expense of Great Britain – once a peace settlement could be concluded. The French were always going to give Hitler what he wanted, if the Vichy Govt was speaking for France, which by definition was the only part of France that could stake any claim to still having a voice.
It is a little known fact conveniently overlooked in the history of WWII. I don’t believe Churchill should have stabbed their ally in the back. Would this have made a difference? No. French people in the South did not appreciate this after being humiliated by the Germans.
Why did the allies not declare war on Russia when they took half of Poland? Sounds like hypocrisy or the reality that if would have really posed a more serious threat to the rest of Europe.
I am a Scot living in Normandy. My family lost 2 great uncles one at Gallipoli and one at the Somme. My father was a coxswain at the D-Day Landings and went on to Java to fight the Japanese. I don’t think that Churchill had a choice, given that Vichy France and Admiral Darlan seemed sympathetic to the Germans and the choices they were given regarding the French Navy they chose to ignore. The difficult history between Britain (England) and France has gone on for centuries and it still remains today but the French seem to have forgotten the sacrifices Britain has made in two world wars kicking the Germans out of their country. They seem more concerned about losing face and still trying to bring down the UK at every turn. Very sad because the people I know here are friendly and kind, it’s just the politicians (as usual) who make everything more difficult than it should be.