The French Navy. Volume One

At the outbreak of the Second World War the French Navy was one of the most powerful in the world and possessed a good number of modern and original fighting ships, crewed by well-trained sailors. Despite changes and delays in French prewar Naval policy a number of new vessels were nearing completion or under construction, and the French Naval Command could face the future with confidence. But all this changed within a few short weeks during the German Blitzkrieg of May-June 1940, resulting in the collapse of the French armed forces, and the French Navy had to suffer the consequences. Most French warships in line or under completion at that time were destined to have a tragic end: apart from various units that managed to escape to the United Kingdom (to be taken over by the Royal Navy), there came the unfortunate encounters between British and French warships in African ports in 1940, followed by Allied invasion of French North Africa on one hand and the almost immediate German occupation of Vichy France on the other, resulting in the self-destruction of the largest part of the French Navy in November 1942.