French fleet: between a rock and a hard place. French wars in Africa French military operations in Africa

Chapter IV The Rise of Napoleon. - Egyptian campaign - Aboukir battle. – Return to France and meeting in Ajaccio. Napoleon and Sieyes. - Coup of 18 Brumaire. Napoleon was completely at odds with the Directory, which, no matter how hard they tried, could not subjugate him.

The heavy cruiser "Algerie" in the 30s was considered one of the best heavy cruisers in the world and by far the best in Europe

With France out of 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 could fall into the hands of the enemy and be used against them. After all, apart from Compound “X” neutralized in Alexandria and several cruisers, destroyers, the aircraft carrier “Bearn” and small ships scattered around the world, only two very old battleships “Paris” and “Courbet” found refuge in English ports. 2 super destroyers (leaders), 8 destroyers, 7 submarines and other trifles - in total no more than a tenth of the French fleet, judging by the displacement, and complete insignificance, judging by their real strength. As early as June 17, 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, Compound "H" was concentrated, led by the battle cruiser "Hood" and the aircraft carrier "Ark Royal", which was supposed to follow for the movements of the French fleet.

When the armistice became a fait accompli, Somerville was ordered to neutralize the French ships that posed the greatest potential threat in the ports of North Africa. The operation was called "Catapult".

Since no diplomatic negotiations could do this, the British, who were not accustomed to being shy in choosing means, had no choice but to use brute force. But the French ships were quite powerful, they stood in their own bases and under the protection of coastal batteries. For such an operation, an overwhelming superiority of forces was required in order to persuade the French to comply with the requirements of the British government or, in case of refusal, destroy them. The Somerville compound looked impressive: the battlecruiser Hood, the battleships Resolution and Valient, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, the light cruisers Aretheusa and Enterprise, and 11 destroyers. But he also resisted a lot - in Mers-El-Kebir, chosen as the main object of attack, there were the battleships Dunkirk, Strasbourg, Provence, Brittany, the leaders of the Volta, Mogador, Tiger, " Lynx", "Kersint" and "Terribl", seaplane carrier "Commandant Test". Nearby, in Oran (just a few miles to the east), there was a collection of destroyers, guards, minesweepers and unfinished ships transferred from Toulon, and in Algiers - eight 7800-ton cruisers. Since the large French ships at Mers-el-Kebir were moored to the pier with the stern to the sea and the bow to the shore, Somerville decided to use the element of surprise.

Formation "H" approached Mers-el-Kebir on the morning of July 3, 1940. Exactly at 7 o'clock GMT, the lone destroyer Foxhound entered the harbor with Captain Holland on board, who informed the French flagship at Dunkirk that he had an important message for him. Holland had previously been a naval attache in Paris, he was intimately known to many French officers, and in other circumstances Admiral Jensul would have received him cordially. Imagine the surprise of the French admiral when he learned that the "report" is nothing more than an ultimatum. And observers have already reported the appearance on the horizon of the silhouettes of British battleships, cruisers and destroyers. It was a calculated move by Somerville, reinforcing his truce with a show of force. It was necessary to immediately show the French that they were not joking with them. Otherwise, they could prepare for battle and then the situation would change radically. But this allowed Zhensul to play offended dignity. He refused to talk to Holland, sending his flag officer, Lieutenant Bernard Dufay, to negotiate. Dufay was a close friend of Holland and spoke perfect English. Thanks to this, the negotiations were not interrupted before they began.

In Sommerville's ultimatum. Written on behalf of "His Majesty's Government", after reminders of joint combat service, German perfidy and the previous agreement of 18 June between the governments of Britain and France that, before surrendering on land, the French fleet would join the British or be scuttled, the French commander of naval forces in Mers el-Kebir and Oran were offered a choice of four options for action:

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 kept for France until the end of the war (full monetary compensation was offered for losses and damage);

3) in case of unwillingness to generally allow the possibility of using French ships against the Germans and Italians, so as not to violate the truce with them, go out under an English escort with reduced crews to French ports in the West Indies (for example, to Martinique) or to US ports, where ships will be disarmed and stored until the end of the war, and the crews will be repatriated;

4) in case of refusal of the first three options - to flood the ships within 6 hours.
The ultimatum ended with a phrase that should be quoted in full: "In the event of your refusal of the above proposal, I have orders from His Majesty's Government to use all 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.

English 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 hardly considered, especially under the influence of the German ultimatum received that morning: "Either the return of all ships from England or a complete revision of the terms of the truce." At 9 o'clock, Dufay transmitted to Holland the answer of his admiral, in which he stated that, since he had no right to surrender his ships without an order from the French Admiralty, and he could sink them on the order of Admiral Darlan that remained in force only in case of danger of being captured 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 1050, 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, at 12.30 British seaplanes dropped several magnetic mines on the main fairway. Naturally, this made negotiations even more difficult.

The ultimatum expired at 14:00. At 13.11, a new signal was raised on the Foxhound: “If you accept the proposals, raise a square flag on the mainmast; otherwise I open fire at 14.11. All hopes for a peaceful outcome collapsed. 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 Zhensul tried to prolong the negotiations, raising in response a signal that he was waiting for the decision of his government, and after a quarter of an hour - a new signal that he was ready to receive the representative of Somerville for an honest conversation. At 1500 Captain Holland boarded the Dunkirk for talks with Admiral Jensul 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 went on, Somerville's concern that the French would prepare for battle grew. At 4:15 p.m., while Holland and Jensoul were still trying to maintain friendly relations, a dispatch came from the British commander, ending all discussion: "If none of the proposals is accepted by 5:30 p.m. - I repeat, by 5:30 p.m. - I will be forced to sink your ships!" At 4:35 pm Holland left Dunkirk. The stage was set for the first clash between the French and the British since 1815, when the cannons of Waterloo were fired.

The hours that had passed since the appearance of the English destroyer in the harbor of Mers-el-Kebir were not in vain for the French. All ships parted pairs, the crews dispersed to combat posts. The coastal batteries that had begun to be disarmed were now ready to open fire. 42 fighters stood at the airfields, warming up the engines for the launch. All the ships in Oran were ready to go to sea, and 4 submarines were just waiting for the order to form a barrier between Capes Anguil and Falcon. Minesweepers have already cleared the fairway from English mines. An alarm was declared to all French forces in the Mediterranean, 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 rush to connect with Admiral Jensul, about which he had to warn English.

The destroyer "Mogador" under the fire of the English squadron, leaving the harbor, was hit by an English 381-mm projectile in the stern. This led to the detonation of depth charges and the stern of the destroyer was torn off almost along the bulkhead of the aft engine room. Subsequently, the Mogador was able to run aground and, with the help of small ships approaching from Oran, began to extinguish the fire

And Somerville was already on a combat course. His squadron in the ranks of the wake was 14,000 meters north-north-west of Mers-el-Kebir, heading - 70, speed - 20 knots. At 16.54 (17.54 British time) the first volley was fired. Fifteen-inch shells from the Resolution fell close short of range into the pier behind which the French ships stood, covering them with a hail of stones and fragments. A minute and a half later, 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 anchor, just a 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 this order: Strasbourg, Dunkirk, Provence, Brittany. Super destroyers had 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 shell hit the pier, the fragments of which killed the halyards and signal yard 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 with a 15-knot course. All 6 destroyers rushed behind him.

When a salvo of 381-mm shells hit the pier, the mooring lines were given up on the Dunkirk and the stern chain was poisoned. The tug, helping to weigh anchor, was forced to cut off the mooring lines when the second salvo also hit the pier. The Dunkirk commander ordered the tanks of aviation fuel to be emptied immediately, and at 1700 ordered to open fire with the main caliber. Soon 130-mm guns also came into play. Since Dunkirk was the closest ship to the British, Hood, a former partner in hunting down German raiders, concentrated his fire on it. At that moment, when the French ship began to move away from its anchorage, the first shell from the "Hood" hit him in the stern and. passing through the hangar and non-commissioned officers' cabins, he went through the side plating 2.5 meters below the waterline. This projectile did not detonate because the thin plates it pierced were not enough to cock the fuse. However, in its passage through Dunkirk, it broke part of the port side electrical wiring, disabled the crane motors for lifting seaplanes, and caused the port side fuel tank to flood.

The return fire was quick and accurate, although distance determination was difficult due to the terrain and being between the Dunkirk and the British fort Santon.
Around the same time, Brittany received a hit, and at 17.03 a 381-mm projectile hit Provence, which was waiting for Dunkirk to enter the fairway to follow it. A fire started in the stern of the Provence and a large leak opened. I had to stick the ship to the shore with its nose at a depth of 9 meters. By 17.07, the fire engulfed the Brittany from bow to stern, and two minutes later the old battleship began to capsize and suddenly exploded, taking the lives of 977 crew members. The rest began to be rescued from the Kommandant Test hydro-air transport, which miraculously avoided hits during the entire battle.

The Dunkirk, entering the fairway with a 12-knot course, was hit by a volley of three 381-mm shells. The first one hit the roof of the main gun turret #2 above the port of the right outer gun, denting the armor heavily. Most of the projectile ricocheted and fell to the ground about 2,000 meters from the ship. A piece of armor or part of the projectile hit the charging tray inside the right "semi-turret", igniting the first two quarters of the powder cartridges 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. (On the battleship there were four-gun turrets of the main caliber, divided inside among themselves. Hence the term "half-turret").

The second shell hit next to the 2-gun 130-mm starboard turret, closer to the center of the ship from the edge of the 225-mm belt and pierced the 115-mm armored deck. The projectile severely damaged the reloading compartment of the tower, blocking the supply of ammunition. Continuing its movement towards the center of the ship, it broke through two anti-shatter bulkheads and exploded in the air conditioning and fan compartment. The compartment was completely destroyed, all its personnel were killed or seriously injured. In the meantime, several cartridge cases caught fire in the starboard reloading compartment and several 130-mm shells loaded into the elevator exploded. And here all the servants were killed. The explosion also occurred at the air duct to the forward engine room. Hot gases, flames and thick clouds of yellow smoke penetrated into the compartment through the armor grille in the lower armored deck, where 20 people died and only ten managed to escape, and all the mechanisms failed. This hit turned out to be very serious, as it led to a power outage due to which the fire control system failed. The intact nose 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 one, dived under the 225-mm belt and pierced all the structures between the skin and anti-tank guns, on impact with which it exploded. Its trajectory in the hull passed in the area of ​​KO No. 2 and MO No. 1 (outer shafts). The explosion destroyed the lower armored deck throughout these compartments, the armored slope above the fuel tank. PTP and starboard tunnel for cables and pipelines. The shell fragments caused a fire in the right boiler of KO No. 2, damaged several valves on the pipelines and broke the main steam pipeline between the boiler and the turbine unit. Escaping superheated steam with a temperature of 350 degrees caused fatal burns to the personnel of the KO, who were standing in open places.

After these hits, only KO No. 3 and MO No. 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 brief interruption in the power supply to the stern until the port side was turned on. 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, turret #1 continued to fire quite frequently at the Hood.

In total, before receiving the ceasefire order at 17.10 (18.10), Dunkirk fired 40 330-mm shells at the English flagship, the volleys of which fell very tightly. By this point, after 13 minutes of shooting almost motionless ships in the harbor, the situation no longer looked unpunished for the British. "Dunkirk" and coastal batteries fired intensely, which became more and more accurate, "Strasbourg" with destroyers almost went to sea. The only thing missing was the Motador, which, when leaving the harbor, slowed down to let the tugboat through, and a second later received a 381-mm projectile in the stern. From the explosion, 16 depth charges were detonated and the stern of the destroyer was torn off almost along the bulkhead of the stern MO. But he was able to stick his nose to the shore at a depth of about 6.5 meters and, with the help of small vessels approaching from Oran, began to extinguish the fire.

Burning and sunken French warships, photographed from an RAF aircraft the day after being sunk by their crews at the quay walls in Toulon

The British, satisfied with the sinking of one and the damage of three ships, turned to the west and put up a smokescreen. "Strasbourg" with five destroyers went on a breakthrough. "Lynx" and "Tiger" attacked the submarine "Proteus" with depth charges, preventing her from attacking the battleship. The Strasbourg itself opened heavy fire on the English destroyer Wrestler, which was guarding the exit from the harbor, forcing it to quickly retreat under the cover of a smoke screen. French ships began to develop full speed. At Cape Canastel they were joined by six more destroyers from Oran. To the northwest, within firing range, the English aircraft carrier Ark Royal was visible, practically defenseless against 330-mm and 130-mm shells. But the fight didn't happen. On the other hand, six Swordfish with 124-kg bombs, escorted from the deck of the Ark Royal, escorted by two Skues, attacked the 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 Swordfish were so damaged that they fell into the sea on the way back.

Admiral Somerville decided to give chase on the flagship Hood, the only one that could catch up with the French ship. But by 19 (20) o'clock the distance between "Hood" and "Strasbourg" was 44 km and did not think to be reduced. In an attempt to reduce the speed of the French ship, Sommerville ordered the Ark Royal to attack the retreating enemy with torpedo bombers. After 40-50 minutes, the Swordfish carried out two attacks with a short interval, but all the torpedoes dropped outside the curtain of destroyers passed by. The destroyer "Pursyuvant" (from Oran) informed the battleship in advance about the sighted torpedoes and "Strasbourg" each time had time 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 Valient 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 drawn into a night battle with superior forces. Compound H returned to Gibraltar on 4 July.

"Strasbourg" continued to leave at a 25-knot course 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 in order to avoid new clashes with Compound "H", and on 20.10 July 4, Strasbourg, accompanied by the leaders of "Volta", "Tiger" and "Terrible", came to 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 Saytome and the area could provide some protection from British artillery fire. After 3 minutes, "Dunkirk" complied with the order and anchored 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 reloading compartment, the servant of which died. The starboard electrical wiring was broken and the emergency parties tried to restore the power supply to the combat posts by putting other circuits into action. 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 port side). Tower No. 2 (GK) can be controlled manually, but there is no power supply to it. Tower #1 is unharmed and powered by 400kW diesel generators. The hydraulic mechanisms for opening and closing the armored doors were disabled due to damage to the valves and storage tank. The rangefinders of the 330 mm and 130 mm guns do not work due to lack of power. The smoke from turret No. 4 forced us to batten down the bow 130-mm cellars during the battle. At about 8 p.m., new explosions occurred in the elevator of tower No. 3. What can I say, it's not fun. In this state, the ship could not continue the battle. But horrible, by and large, only three shells.

The French battleship "Bretagne" ("Bretagne", entered service in 1915) was sunk in Mers-el-Kebir during the operation "Catapult" by the English fleet. Operation "Catapult" was aimed at capturing and destroying French ships in English and colonial ports to prevent ships from falling under German control after the surrender of France

Luckily Dunkirk was in the base. Admiral Jensul ordered to stick him aground. 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 sealed. The evacuation of unnecessary personnel immediately began; 400 people were left on board to carry out repairs. At about 19 o'clock, the tugboats Estrel and Kotaiten, together with the patrol ships Ter Neuve and Setus, pulled the battleship to the shore, where it ran aground at a depth of 8 meters with about 30 meters of the central part of the hull. It was a difficult time for the 400 people left on board. Plastering began in places where the skin had been pierced. After the full restoration of the power supply, they began the grim work of searching for and identifying the dead comrades.

On July 4, Admiral Esteva, commander of naval forces in North Africa, issued a communiqué stating that "the damage to the Dunkirk is minor and will be quickly repaired." This ill-advised statement prompted a swift response from the Royal Navy. On the evening of July 5, Compound "H" again went to sea, leaving the low-speed "Resolution" in the base. Admiral Somerville decided, instead of conducting another artillery battle, to act quite modernly - to use aircraft from the Ark Royal aircraft carrier to attack Dunkirk, which had landed on the shore. At 05.20 on July 6, while 90 miles from Oran, Ark Royal lifted 12 Swordfish torpedo bombers, escorted by 12 Skue fighters, into the air. The torpedoes were set to a speed of 27 knots and a travel depth of about 4 meters. The air defense of Mers el Kebir was not ready to repel the attack at dawn, and only the second wave of aircraft met more intense anti-aircraft fire. And only then followed the intervention of French fighters.

Unfortunately, the commander of the Dunkirk evacuated the servants of anti-aircraft guns ashore, leaving only the personnel of the emergency parties on board. The patrol vessel "Ter Neuve" stood at the side, taking some of the crew members and the coffins with the dead on July 3. During this sad procedure, at 06.28 a raid of British aircraft began, which went on the attack in three waves. The two Swordfish of the first wave dropped their torpedoes prematurely and they exploded on impact without causing any damage. After 9 minutes, the second wave approached, but none of the three torpedoes dropped hit Dunkirk. But one torpedo hit Ter Neuve, which was just in a hurry to move away from the battleship. The explosion literally ripped the small ship in half, and the wreckage of its superstructure showered the Dunkirk. At 0650, another 6 Swordfish appeared with fighter cover. The link, which came from the starboard side, came under heavy anti-aircraft fire and was attacked by fighters. Dropped torpedoes again did not reach the target. The last group of three cars attacked from the port side, This time two torpedoes rushed to the Dunkirk. One hit the Estrel tug, 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 wreckage of the Ter Neuve, caused the detonation of forty-two 100-kilogram depth charges, despite the absence of fuses in them. The consequences of the explosion were terrible. A hole about 40 meters long was formed in the starboard plating. Several belt armor plates were displaced, and water filled the side protection system. The steel plate above the armor belt was torn off by the force of the explosion and thrown onto the deck, burying several people under it. The anti-torpedo bulkhead was detached from its mount for 40 meters, other watertight bulkheads were torn or deformed. There was a strong roll to starboard and the ship settled with its nose so that the water rose above the armor belt. The compartments behind the damaged bulkhead were flooded with salt water and liquid fuel. As a result of this attack and the previous battle on the Dunkirk, 210 people were killed. There is no doubt that if the ship were in deep water, such an explosion would lead to its quick death.

A temporary plaster was put on the hole and on August 8 Dunkirk was dragged into free water. Repair work progressed very slowly. And where were the French in a hurry? Only on February 19, 1942, Dunkirk went to sea in complete secrecy. When the workers arrived in the morning, they saw their tools neatly stacked on the embankment and ... nothing more. At 23.00 the next day, the ship reached Toulon, carrying on board some of the scaffolding from Mers-el-Kebir.

English 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 seem somewhat far-fetched. Did the British consider themselves stupider than the Germans? After all, the Germans were able in 1919 to flood their fleet interned in the British base of Scapa Flow. But then, far from full crews remained on their disarmed ships, the war in Europe ended a year ago, and the British Royal Navy completely controlled the situation on the seas. Why, then, 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 of the French sailors towards the former allies, who until July 3 were almost 100% pro-English, has changed and, naturally, not in favor of the British. And only after almost two and a half years did the British leadership become convinced that its fears regarding the French fleet were in vain, and that hundreds of sailors died in vain on his instructions in Mers-el-Kebir. Faithful to 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 by Nazi Germany of the ships that were on the roads of the naval base of Toulon. In 1943, she 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 (La Spezia) after the capitulation of Italy

On November 8, 1942, the Allies landed in North Africa and a few days later 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, collected from all over the Mediterranean - more than half of the tonnage of the fleet. The main striking force, the High Seas Fleet of Admiral de Laborde, consisted of the flagship battleship Strasbourg, the heavy cruisers Algiers, Dupleix and Colbert, the cruisers Marseillaise and Jean de Vienne, 10 leaders and 3 destroyers. The commander of the Toulon Naval District, 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 (the damaged Dunkirk, the heavy cruiser Foch, the light La Galissoniere, 8 leaders, 6 destroyers and 10 submarines) were disarmed under the terms of the armistice and had only part of the crew on board.

But Toulon was crowded not only with sailors. A huge wave of refugees, urged on by the German army, flooded the city, making it difficult to organize defense and creating a mass of rumors that caused 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 repetition of Mers el-Kebir by the Allies, who brought powerful squadrons into the Mediterranean. In general, we decided to prepare for the defense of the base from everyone and flood the ships both in case of 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 piers of the base, where the largest ships stood, the other was the command post of the district commandant and the Murillon shipyard.

Admiral de Laborde was on his flagship when word arrived at 0520 that the shipyard of Murillon had already been captured. Five minutes later, German tanks blew up the north gate of the base. Admiral de Laborde immediately radioed a general order for the fleet to sink immediately. The radio operators repeated it continuously, and the signalmen raised flags on the halyards: “Sink! Get drowned! Get drowned!

It was still dark and the German tanks got lost in the labyrinths of warehouses and docks of a huge base. Only at about 6 o'clock one of them appeared at the Milhod 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 the cannon to be fired at the battleship (the Germans claimed that the shot happened by accident). A shell hit one of the 130 mm turrets, killing an officer and injuring several sailors who were setting demolition charges at the guns. Immediately, anti-aircraft guns returned fire, but the admiral ordered him to stop.

It was still dark. A German infantryman approached the edge of the pier and shouted at Strasbourg: "Admiral, my commander says you must surrender your ship intact."
De Laborde yelled back, "It's already sunk."
There was a discussion in German on the shore, and again the voice was heard:
"Admiral! My commander conveys his deepest respect to you!”

In the meantime, the ship's commander, having made sure that the kingstones in the engine rooms were open and there were no people left in the lower decks, gave a signal with a siren for execution. Immediately "Strasbourg" was surrounded by explosions - guns exploded one after another. Internal explosions caused the skin to swell, and the gaps and gaps formed between its sheets accelerated the flow of water into the huge hull. Soon the ship sat on the bottom of the harbor on an even keel, plunging 2 meters into the silt. The upper deck was 4 meters under water. Oil spilled from broken tanks.

Blown up by her crew and later partially dismantled French battleship Dunkirk (Dunkerque)

On the heavy cruiser Algiers, the flagship of Vice Admiral Lacroix, the stern tower was blown up. The Algiers burned for two days, and the cruiser Marseillaise, which sat next to the bottom with a 30-degree list, burned for more than a week. The Colbert cruiser closest to Strasbourg began to explode when two crowds of Frenchmen who fled from it and Germans trying to get on board collided at its side. The whistle of fragments flying from everywhere, people rushed about in search of protection, illuminated by a bright flame, set on fire on the catapult of the aircraft.

On board the heavy cruiser "Duplay", moored in the Missiesi basin, the Germans managed to climb. But immediately explosions began and the ship sank with a large roll, 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 flooding longer than the others, because it received a telephone message from the headquarters of the commandant of the base captured by the Germans: “An order has been received from Monsieur Laval (Prime Minister of the Vichy government) that the incident has been settled.” When they realized that this was a provocation, the crew did everything possible so that the enemy did not get the ship. The maximum that the Germans could do, who managed to climb the tilted deck leaving from under their feet, was to declare prisoners of war the Provence officers and headquarters officials, led by the commander of the division, Rear Admiral Marcel Jarry.

Standing in the dock and having almost no crew, the Dunkirk was more difficult to flood. On the ship, they opened everything that could only let water into the hull, and then opened the dock gates. But it was easier to drain the dock than to raise the ship lying at the bottom. Therefore, everything that could be of interest was destroyed at Dunkirk: guns, turbines, rangefinders, 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 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, Commandant Test hydro-air transport, 18 guard and smaller ships.

There is a proverb that when English gentlemen are not satisfied with the rules of the game, they simply change them. contains many examples where the deeds of "English gentlemen" corresponded to this principle. "Rule, Britain, by the seas!"... The reign of the former "mistress of the seas" was strange. Paid for with the blood of French sailors in Mess-El-Kebir, British, American and Soviet sailors in Arctic waters (hell we tell you when PQ-17 will be forgotten!). Historically, England would only be good as an enemy. Having such an ally is obviously more expensive for yourself.

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"Toulon will be our first military stronghold in the Mediterranean," said Cardinal Richelieu in 1639. And how he looked into the water. In the 21st century, the military port of Toulon is the main naval base of France: aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines are based here, and huge naval command buildings are located.

1595 is unofficially considered the year of birth of the military port of Toulon. The official date is June 30, 1599. On this day, the Parliament of Provence, with the consent of the King of France, Henry IV, transferred part of the Toulon lands "for the construction and manufacture of commercial and military ships." The first French galleys made a raid in the port of Toulon in 1610.

An invaluable contribution to the development of the military port of Toulon was made by the Grand Master and General Superintendent of Navigation, Cardinal Richelieu. Before him, the expenses for the maintenance and military equipment of the ships lay on the shoulders of the captains. On March 29, 1631, Richelieu made a historic decision - to transfer ownership and expenses for the maintenance of military courts to the state. Eight lieutenant generals supervised the execution of the orders of the Superintendent of Navigation Richelieu, they also controlled the coastal areas. Each lieutenant general was assisted by at least two commissars who oversaw the naval service and ports - such as Brest, Brouage, Le Havre and Toulon.

In July 1636, 59 warships of Toulon recaptured the Lerins Islands from the Spaniards, located 800 meters from Cannes. Three years later, Cardinal Richelieu declared: "Toulon will be our first military stronghold in the Mediterranean." The old harbor of Toulon was too narrow, so in 1650, under the leadership of the naval quartermaster Louis Le Roux d "Enfreville, work began to expand it. Ten years later, King Louis XIV of France, during a visit to Toulon, gave d" Enfreville consent to build new military ships for Toulon fleet. Drawings of some of them - for example, the Admiralty ship "Monarch" - were made by the court painter of Louis XIV, Pierre Puget. Puget decorated the deck of the Monarch with a huge number of sculptures. They did not even have time to gild half of them - they were in such a hurry to launch the "Monarch" into the water.

Father of the midshipmen

By the way, the expression "exiled to the galleys" appeared under Colbert. He introduced maritime service: criminals became rowers in the galleys.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert increased the number of ships from 18 in 1661 to 276 in 1683, contributed to the expansion of the ports of Toulon and Brest, the ports of Rochefort and Dunkirk, redeemed from the British. Colbert personally selected port workers, organized a fund for the invalids of the navy, which provided a small rent to the wounded or the families of those who died at sea. In 1670, Colbert created the first school of naval officers - midshipmen (later this term was adopted by many countries of the world, including Peter's Russia). Maritime customs is also obliged by its birth to Colbert - despite the fact that it received official status several decades later.

Under Colbert, the first coast guard appeared in France. She made regular raids along the coast of the state, monitored unauthorized unloading of goods, gave alarms when enemy ships appeared in the coastal zone.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert divided naval officers into "sword officers" (those who fought at sea) and "feather officers" (administrative workers who served in ports and colonies). In 1681, under the editorship of Colbert, the first official Ordinance for the Navy was issued. It regulates the way ships go to sea, approves the naval hierarchy, and outlines the responsibility of naval officers.

The great statesman died in 1683 in Paris, and in 1689 France approved the Code of the Naval Army by Colbert, containing regulations on the service of officers of the navy.

Having barely recovered from the catastrophes, France unleashed a new war, now for the Austrian inheritance (1740-1748). The construction of the military port resumed. It was then that buildings were built in the port, which today are the hallmark of Toulon.

These are the Monumental Gate built in 1738 - today's entrance to the Navy Museum, and the 24-meter Clock Tower built in 1776 with a bell at the top. More than a hundred years after the construction, the bell announced to the workers the beginning and end of the labor watch and reported on the fire. In 1918, the bell was replaced by a siren, and a wooden model bell was installed on the tower.

clock tower

In 1778, the first dry dock in the Mediterranean appeared in Toulon. The naval port became the largest enterprise in the city: in 1783 it had 4,000 workers.

The revolution turned the city into a battlefield. In 1793, a group of royalists (supporters of the monarchy) settled in Toulon, who decided to create a separate republic of Southern France and turned to the British for help. In August 1793, Admiral Samuel Hood brought an Anglo-Spanish-Sardinian squadron to the Toulon region and captured the port after fierce fighting. But under the onslaught of revolutionary troops and, in particular, Napoleon Bonaparte, the British fled from Toulon.

On May 18, 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed himself Emperor of France. He had begun the program to rebuild Toulon a few years earlier as First Consul. The work was supervised by the first naval prefect, Rear Admiral Vence. The restoration of the port and the construction of new ships went on around the clock - at night people worked by the light of torches. In 1814, 80 warships were on the road in Toulon.

Two factors influenced the further fate of Toulon. The first is colonial wars. In 1830 the French conquered Algiers and Toulon became the military port of the new colonial France. It was here that the invader ships were equipped and sent to North Africa. The second factor is the transition from sailing to steam ships. The first French steam ships were designed by the engineer Dupuy de Lom.

Pioneer of the steam fleet

Dupuis de Lome

Thanks to the first steam ships of de Loma during the Crimean War of 1854, the French squadron led by the Napoleon defeated the Dardanelles and entered the Black Sea. At that time, 108 steam ships, including those with a screw engine, were in the service of the French navy.

In 1858, de Lom created the world's first seaworthy battleship "Gluar" with a wooden hull sheathed in iron. The next three battleships were built according to the same principle: the foundries of France could not provide the supply of rolled iron in the quantity that was necessary for the construction of metal ships.

Leaving the service in the Navy, de Lom became the head of the shipbuilding enterprises Messageries Maritimes ("Sea transportation") and FCM (Les Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranee - "Forge and construction of the Mediterranean Sea"). For the first, he built high-speed ships, for the second - powerful warships.

This man is known for other accomplishments as well. So, he developed a detailed project for crossing the Channel from Calais to Dover by port-train ships - the prototypes of our self-propelled ferries. And at the end of his life, de Lom designed submarines. Anticipating his imminent death, he gave these developments to his employee Gustave Zede, who, on their basis, built the first French submarine Zhimnot in 1888. De Lom died in Paris on February 1, 1885.

Monumental Gate

Toulon in the 20th century

In 1907, the recently repaired battleship Jena exploded in the port of Toulon, killing 117 people. Explosions in warehouses continued... 11 years.

On September 4, 1911, the President of the French Republic, Armand Fire, began the revision and modernization of the fleet. The use of new technologies - for example, torpedoes and radiotelegraphy - made the French fleet one of the most powerful in the world.

It remained so until the war with Nazi Germany. More precisely, until the tragic day of November 27, 1942. On this day, 2 German units occupied the most important facilities in Toulon: a telephone center, armories, the Saint-Mandrier air and naval base, and a submarine base. In the battles for the port, it became clear that the French would not be able to stay in it. At Toulon Naval Headquarters, a phone call was received from the Admiralty of the Vichy regime (as Philippe Pétain's regime was called in France during the German occupation from 1940 to 1944). During the conversation, the Germans damaged the telephone line. A few minutes later, an order was received on the radio from the Admiralty - to sink all the ships in the port! Without written confirmation of the order, some admirals refused to carry it out.

While the French command was deciding whether or not to destroy its fleet, the Germans took it by storm. The flagship, the battleship Strasbourg, was captured first, then the battleship Provence. At 6 o'clock on November 27, the French decided to carry out the order to scuttle the ships. The first - with the Germans on board - went to the bottom of the Provence. Then the detonators went off on other ships. Some of them - the cruisers Marseillaise, Duplex and Algiers - burned for several days. On June 18, 1940, in Bordeaux, the commander of the French fleet, Admiral Darlan, and other senior naval officers decided: do not surrender the fleet to the enemy! In total, 77 of the best French ships were sunk in Toulon: 3 battleships (Strasbourg, Provence, Dunkirk), 7 cruisers, 32 destroyers, 16 submarines, the Commandant Test hydro-aircraft carrier, 18 patrol ships and other ships.

At the time of the liberation of Toulon by the First African Army in 1944, only ruins remained from the military port. And, although after eight months 6 dry docks and the main workshops were launched, and in 1946 the School of the Quartermaster's Office of the Navy began work in the reconstructed building of the Rope Production, the restoration of the port of Toulon took many years. True, now it was rebuilt towards the west coast. On the embankment of Stalingrad in 1954 a new maritime prefecture appeared. The port was ready to receive submarines and the Fleet Training Center. In 1956, the recognition of the independence of Tunisia, the war in Algeria and the unsuccessful Suez expedition put an end to the colonial gains of France. French ships from the ports of the former colonial republics moved to the port of Toulon. This meant the restoration of historical justice - Toulon again became the main naval stronghold of France in the Mediterranean.

In Toulon, schools for officers and sailors (artillerymen, submariners, signalmen, sappers), a training center for the Health Service, a research center for special apparatuses and an underwater research group were opened. The development of the naval port kept pace with the technical progress of the 20th century: in 1965, the Soufren frigate appeared here with Mazurka surface-to-air missiles and the Malafon anti-submarine complex.

In 1975, the aircraft carriers Foch and Clemenceau settled in Toulon, and in 1982, the first nuclear submarines. Since 1991, the School of Naval Administration, previously located in Cherbourg, has joined the School of Quartermaster Management of the Navy. They received the general name of the Group of Schools of the Commissariat.

Today Toulon covers an area of ​​2.52 square kilometers. The main forces of the French fleet are based here - Force d "action navale - 100 ships and vessels (more than 60% of the total displacement of the Navy) and 12,000 personnel.