Back إغراق الأسطول الفرنسي في تولون Arabic Затапленне французскага флоту ў Тулоне Byelorussian Потопяване на френския флот в Тулон Bulgarian Potopení francouzské floty v Toulonu Czech Selbstversenkung der Vichy-Flotte German Operación Lila Spanish غرق ناوگان فرانسه در تولون Persian Ranskan laivaston upottautuminen Finnish Sabordage de la flotte française à Toulon French הטבעת אוניות הצי הצרפתי בטולון HE

Scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon

Scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon
Part of the German occupation of Vichy France

Strasbourg, Colbert, Algérie, and Marseillaise[1]
Date27 November 1942 (1942-11-27)
Location
Toulon, France
43°06′45″N 5°54′25″E / 43.11250°N 5.90694°E / 43.11250; 5.90694
Result Vichy French success
German failure to capture the French fleet
Belligerents
 Vichy France  Germany
Commanders and leaders
 Johannes Blaskowitz
Strength
164 vessels
  • 3 battleships
  • 7 cruisers
  • 18 destroyers
  • 13 torpedo boats
  • 6 sloops
  • 21 submarines
  • 9 patrol boats
  • 19 auxiliary ships
  • 1 school ship
  • 28 tugs
  • 39 small ships
  • 4 combat groups
  • 1 motorcycle battalion
Casualties and losses
  • Casualties:
  • 12 killed
  • 26 wounded
  • Losses:
77 vessels
  • 3 battleships
  • 7 cruisers
  • 15 destroyers
  • 13 torpedo boats
  • 6 sloops
  • 12 submarines
  • 9 patrol boats
  • 19 auxiliary ships
  • 1 school ship
  • 28 tugs
Captured:
3 destroyers (disarmed)
4 submarines (badly damaged)
39 small ships		 1 wounded[citation needed]

The scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon was orchestrated by Vichy France on 27 November 1942 to prevent Nazi German forces from seizing it.[2] After the Allied invasion of North Africa, the Germans invaded the territory administered by Vichy under the Armistice of 1940.[3] The Vichy Secretary of the Navy, Admiral François Darlan, defected to the Allies, who were gaining increasing support from servicemen and civilians.[4] His replacement, Admiral Gabriel Auphan,[5] guessed correctly that the Germans intended to seize the large fleet at Toulon (even though this was explicitly forbidden in the Franco-Italian armistice and the French-German armistice),[6][7][8] and ordered it scuttled.[9]

The Germans began Operation Anton but the French naval crews used subterfuge to delay them until the scuttling was complete.[10] Anton was judged a failure,[11] with the capture of 39 small ships, while the French destroyed 77 vessels; several submarines escaped to French North Africa.[12] It marked the end of Vichy France as a credible naval power[13] and marked the destruction of the last political bargaining chip it had with Germany.[14][15]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference netmarine was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Auphan & Mordal 2016, p. 267, Chapter 22. Tragedy at Toulon and Bizerte.
  3. ^ Murray, Nicholas (1 June 2017). Lord, Carnes (ed.). "How the War Was Won: Air-Sea Power and Allied Victory in World War II, by Phillips PaysonO'Brien". Naval War College Review. 70 (3). Washington, D.C., United States: Naval War College: 148–149. ISSN 0028-1484. LCCN 75617787. OCLC 01779130. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Frank was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Roberts, Priscilla (2012). "Auphan, Paul Gabriel (1894—1982)". In Tucker, Spencer C.; Pierpaoli Jr., Paul G.; Osborne, Eric W.; O'Hara, Vincent P. (eds.). World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia. Vol. I. Santa Barbara, California, United States: ABC-CLIO. p. 66. ISBN 9781598844573 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Auphan & Mordal 2016, p. 115, Chapter 12. The Misunderstanding Over Article 8.
  7. ^ Upward 2016, pp. 170–171, Chapter Four: Collaboration.
  8. ^ MacGalloway, Niall (1 February 2018). Starkey, David J.; Barnard, Michaela (eds.). "The French fleet and the Italian occupation of France, 1940–1942". International Journal of Maritime History. 30 (1). International Maritime Economic History Association/SAGE Publishing: 139–143. doi:10.1177/0843871417746892. ISSN 0843-8714. OCLC 21102214. S2CID 158144591.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference gilbert was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Black, Henry (1 April 1970). "Hopes, fears and premonitions: The French Navy, 1949-1942". Southern Quarterly. 8 (3). Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States: University of Southern Mississippi: 309–332. ISSN 0038-4496.
  11. ^ Vaisset, Thomas; Vial, Philippe (1 September 2020). Viant, Julien (ed.). "Success or failure? The divided memory of the sabotage of Toulon". Inflexions. 45 (3). Paris, France: French Army/Cairn.info: 45–60. doi:10.3917/infle.045.0045. ISSN 1772-3760. S2CID 226424361.
  12. ^ Symonds 2018, p. 363, 16. The Tipping Point.
  13. ^ Clayton, Anthony (1 November 1992). Marsden, Gordon (ed.). "A Question of Honour? Scuttling Vichy's Fleet". History Today. 42 (11). London, England, United Kingdom: History Today Ltd: 32. ISSN 0018-2753.
  14. ^ Jackson, Peter; Kitson, Simon (2020) [2007]. "4. The paradoxes of Vichy foreign policy, 1940-1942". In Adelman, Jonathan R. (ed.). Hitler and his Allies in World War II (2 ed.). London, England, United Kingdom: Routledge. p. 82. doi:10.4324/9780203089552-4. ISBN 9780429603891. S2CID 216530750 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ Folly, Martin H. (2004). "The War in North Africa 1942". The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of the Second World War. Palgrave Concise Historical Atlases. New York City, New York, United States: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 45–46. doi:10.1057/9780230502390_23. ISBN 978-1-4039-0285-6.

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