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The Attack on Mers-el-Kébir, part of Operation ''Catapult'' and also known as the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir, was a British naval bombardment of the French Navy (''Marine Nationale'') at its base at Mers-el-Kébir on the coast of what was then French Algeria on 3 July 1940. The raid resulted in the deaths of 1,297 French servicemen, the sinking of a battleship and the damaging of five other ships. The combined air-and-sea attack was conducted by the Royal Navy as a direct response to the Franco-German armistice of 22 June, which had seen Britain's sole continental ally replaced by a collaborationist, pro-Nazi government administrated from Vichy. The new Vichy government had also inherited the considerable French naval force of the ''Marine Nationale''; of particular significance were the seven battleships of the ''Bretagne'', ''Dunkerque'' and ''Richelieu'' classes, which collectively represented the second largest force of capital ships in Europe behind the British. Since Vichy was seen by the British (with a good deal of justification) as a mere puppet state of the Nazi regime, there was serious fear that they would surrender or loan the ships to the Kriegsmarine, an outcome which would largely undo Britain's tenuous grasp on European naval superiority and confer a major Axis advantage in the ongoing Battle of the Atlantic. Despite promises from Admiral Darlan, the Commander of the French Navy,〔Ernest Harold Jenkins, ''History of the French Navy'', ISBN 0-356-04196-4〕 that the fleet would remain under French control and out of the hands of the Germans, Winston Churchill, still reeling from Dunkirk and stung by the Vichy French collaboration, determined that the fleet was simply too dangerous to remain intact, French sovereignty notwithstanding. In response to the British attack at Mers-el-Kébir and another at Dakar, the French mounted air raids on Gibraltar. The Vichy government also severed diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom. The attack remains controversial. It created much rancour between Vichy France and Britain, but it also demonstrated to the world and to the United States in particular, Britain's commitment to continue the war with Germany at all costs and without allies if need be.〔Martin Thomas, "After Mers-el-Kebir: The armed neutrality of the Vichy French Navy, 1940–43," ''English Historical Review'' (1997) 112#447 pp 643–70 (in JSTOR )〕 A great deal of debate has taken place over the motivations of the British. P. M. H. Bell argues that from London's point of view:〔P. M. H. Bell, ''France and Britain, 1940–1994: The Long Separation'' (1997) pp 19–20〕 : The times were desperate; invasion seemed imminent; and the British government simply could not afford to risk the Germans seizing control of the French fleet.... The predominant British motive was thus dire necessity and self-preservation. The French on the other hand thought they were acting honorably in terms of their armistice with Germany, and were fully convinced they would never turn over their fleet to Germany. French grievances over what they considered a betrayal by their ally festered for generations.〔Bell, ''France and Britain, 1940–1994: The Long Separation'' (1997) pp 24–25〕 ==Background== In 1940, after the Fall of France and the armistice between France and Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom became concerned about the possibility that the Germans would acquire control of France's powerful navy, then under the control of what became known as the Vichy government. The combined French and German naval forces would mean that the balance of power at sea might tip in Germany's favour, threatening Britain's ability to receive raw materials from across the Atlantic and its communications with the rest of its Empire. The British government feared the possibility despite the fact that the Armistice terms at Article 8 paragraph 2 stated that the German government "solemnly and firmly declared that it had no intention of making demands regarding the French fleet during the peace negotiations" and similar terms existed in the armistice with Italy. Furthermore, on 24 June, Admiral Darlan had given assurances to Churchill against such a possibility.〔Claude Farrère, ''Histoire de la Marine Française''〕 (A later German attempt, made in violation of the Armistice terms, resulted in the French fleet scuttling itself in Toulon in 1942).〔Kappes, Irwin J. (2003) (Mers-el-Kebir: A Battle Between Friends ), Military History Online〕 Winston Churchill ordered that a demand be made that the French Navy (''Marine Nationale'') should either join forces with the British Royal Navy or face neutralization in some way, in order to forestall any possibility that the French ships might fall into German or Italian hands.〔Greene & Massignani p.57〕 In a speech to Parliament, Churchill repeated that the French armistice with Germany was a betrayal of the Allied agreement that forbade each country from surrendering to the Germans without notifying its allies. This French betrayal, added to by the German Nazi government's history of not respecting previous agreements, led Churchill to declare to the House "What is the value of that? Ask half a dozen countries, what is the value of such a solemn assurance? . . . Finally, the armistice could be voided at any time on any pretext of non-observance . . .".〔Hansard, (''War Situation'' ), 25 June 1940, (304–05 )〕 The British empire was faced with the situation of having the French Atlantic ports in German hands at a time when enormous problems were looming in the Mediterranean, where the British needed to: # Keep the German surface fleet out of that sea # Restrict the Italian Fleet within those waters # Blockade the Vichy ports Given the need to keep Britain's Atlantic approaches open to convoy traffic, the Royal Navy simply did not have enough ships to provide a permanent blockade of the Vichy naval bases in North Africa. The risk of having either the Germans or the Italians seize the French capital ships was too great to contemplate.〔Bell, ''France and Britain, 1940–1994'' (1997) pp 19–20〕 The French fleet was widely dispersed. Some vessels were in port in France; others had escaped from France to British-controlled ports, mainly in Britain and Alexandria, Egypt. Operation ''Catapult'' was launched to take the French ships under British control or destroy them. In the first stage, the French ships in the British ports of Plymouth and Portsmouth were boarded without warning on the night of 3 July 1940. The only resistance came from the crew of the French submarine , then the largest submarine in the world. This vessel had made its way to Portsmouth in June 1940 following the German invasion of France. The crew resisted the boarding and three Royal Navy personnel, including two officers, were killed. A French sailor also died. Other ships captured included the two obsolete battleships and , the destroyers ''Triomphant'' and ''Léopard'', eight torpedo boats, five submarines and a number of less important ships. Many, including ''Surcouf'', went on to be used by the Free French forces. Some sailors joined the Free French while others were repatriated to France. The attack on the French vessels at port sowed anger amongst the French towards the British and increased tension between Churchill and the leader of the Free French Forces, Charles de Gaulle.〔Auphan & Mordal pp.124–126〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Attack on Mers-el-Kébir」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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