Maritime warfare branch of the Free French Forces
The
Free French Naval Forces
(
French
:
Forces Navales Francaises Libres
, or
FNFL
) were the naval arm of the
Free French Forces
during the
Second World War
. They were commanded by Admiral
Emile Muselier
.
FNFL recruitment poster
History
[
edit
]
General De Gaulle inspecting sailors on
Leopard
at
Greenock
in June 1942
In the wake of the
Armistice
and the
Appeal of 18 June
,
Charles de Gaulle
founded the
Free French Forces
(
Forces Francaises Libres
, or FFL), including a naval arm, the "Free French Naval Forces" (
Les Forces Navales Francaises Libres
, or FNFL). On 24 June 1940, de Gaulle made a separate call specifically to servicemen overseas to join him, and two days later the submarine
Narval
entered Malta and pledged its allegiance to the FFL.
[1]
On 30 June, De Gaulle was joined by Vice-Admiral
Emile Muselier
, who had come from
Gibraltar
by
flying boat
. Muselier was the only flag officer of the French Navy to answer the call of De Gaulle.
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 itself or
Alexandria
in
Egypt
. At the first stage of
Operation Catapult
, the ships in the British ports of
Plymouth
and
Portsmouth
were simply boarded on the night of 3 July 1940. The then-largest
submarine
in the world,
Surcouf
, which had sought refuge in Portsmouth in June 1940 following the German invasion of France, resisted the British operation. In capturing the submarine, two British officers and one French sailor were killed. Other ships were the two obsolete
battleships
Paris
and
Courbet
, the
destroyers
Le Triomphant
and
Leopard
, eight
torpedo boats
, five submarines (
Minerve
,
Junon
) and a number of other smaller vessels. 3,600 sailors operating 50 ships around the world joined with the
Royal Navy
and formed the nucleus of the Free French Naval Forces
[2]
France's surrender found her only aircraft carrier,
Bearn
, en route from the United States loaded with a precious cargo of American fighter and bomber aircraft. Unwilling to return to occupied France, but likewise reluctant to join de Gaulle,
Bearn
instead sought harbour in
Martinique
, her crew showing little inclination to side with the British in their continued fight against the Nazis. Already obsolete at the start of the war, she would remain in Martinique for the next four years, her aircraft rusting in the tropical climate.
[3]
Plaque on Stafford Mansions, the headquarters of the Free French Naval Forces between 1940 and 1945 in Westminster, London
As soon as the summer 1940, the submarines
Minerve
and
Junon
, as well as four
avisos
, departed from Plymouth. Towards the end of 1940, the destroyers
Le Triomphant
and
Leopard
followed.
Le Triomphant
sailed for
New Caledonia
and spent the rest of the war based there and in
Australia
. The ship saw action in both the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Civilian vessels and crew also rallied to de Gaulle, starting with four cargo ships in Gibraltar - they would be the beginning of the merchant fleet of the FNFL.
[4]
To distinguish the FNFL from the
Vichist
forces, Vice-Admiral Emile Muselier created the
bow
flag displaying the French colours with a red
Cross of Lorraine
, and a cocarde also featuring the Cross of Lorraine for aircraft of the
Free French Naval Air Service
(
Aeronavale Francaise Libre
) and the
Free French Air Force
(
Forces Aeriennes Francaises Libres
).
A number of ships were leased from the British to compensate for the lack of warships in the FNFL, among them, the
Hunt-class
destroyer
La Combattante
and the
Flower-class
corvette
Aconit
.
The FNFL suffered their first loss when the patrol boat
Poulmic
hit a
mine
and sank on 7 November 1940 off Plymouth.
[5]
Africa
[
edit
]
Soon after the fall of France, Free France was but a government in exile based in England, with no land of its own to speak of and very few land or sea forces. In an attempt to establish his authority on an important French territory, General de Gaulle attempted to rally
French West Africa
by personally sailing to
Dakar
with a British fleet which included a few Free French units; at the same time, a
cruiser
force had been sent by Vichy France to reclaim African territories which had already announced their support to De Gaulle (notably
Chad
). The resulting
Battle of Dakar
ended on a Vichyite victory. However, after the occupation of Vichy France by the Germans after the
Allied
invasion of North Africa in November 1942, French West Africa also eventually joined the Free French.
When it did, important ships based in Dakar were obtained: the modern battleship
Richelieu
, the
heavy cruiser
Suffren
,
light cruisers
Gloire
,
Montcalm
,
Georges Leygues
, and a few destroyers, including cruiser-sized
Le Fantasque
-class
destroyers.
Role in the French Resistance
[
edit
]
Captain
d'Estienne d'Orves
attempted to unite the
French Resistance
, became an inspiring symbol when he was arrested, tortured by the
Gestapo
and executed.
D-Day: Operation Neptune
[
edit
]
Free French light cruiser
Montcalm
photographed in 1943
In the summer of 1944, the
Invasion of Normandy
took place. The FNFL took part in both the naval side of the operations,
Operation Neptune
, and the landing itself, with the Naval Commandos (
Commandos Marine
) of Captain
Philippe Kieffer
, climbing cliffs under fire to destroy German shore batteries.
The ships of the FNFL were deployed off the landing sites :
In addition the obsolete battleship
Courbet
was
scuttled
off
Arromanches
to serve as a breakwater for a
Mulberry harbour
.
The cruisers
Georges Leygues
and
Montcalm
, along with the battleship
USS
Arkansas
provided fire support for the infantry until 10 June.
La Combattante
silenced German
coastal artillery
of
Courseulles-sur-Mer
. The next day, she started patrolling the
English Channel
. On 14 July, she ferried General Charles de Gaulle to France.
[6]
Pacific War
[
edit
]
Triomphant
, under the command of
Philippe Auboyneau
was transferred to the Pacific theatre of the war, where in February 1942 it took part in the evacuation of European and Chinese civilians and military personnel from
Nauru
and
Ocean Island
before an anticipated Japanese
invasion
.
Triomphant
was later stationed along the east coast of Australia, where in early 1943 it was involved in the rescue of the survivors from
SS
Iron Knight
, which was sunk by a
torpedo
fired by the
Japanese submarine
I-21
. After the rescue,
Triomphant
then searched for
I-21
for a day, but without success.
[
citation needed
]
Technical innovations
[
edit
]
The FNFL also harboured technical innovators, like Captain
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
, who invented the modern
aqua-lung
, and
Yves Rocard
, who helped perfect
radar
. The aqua-lung became a major improvement for commando operations. However, Jacques Cousteau joined the FNFL only after the
liberation of France
. He had spent the entirety of the war in France and developed the aqua-lung in Paris during the German occupation.
Losses
[
edit
]
The merchant fleet of the FNFL suffered heavy casualties, amounting to one quarter of its men.
A number of warships were lost, notably the
submarine
Surcouf
, possibly sunk in a
friendly fire
incident. Other losses include the
destroyers
Leopard
and
La Combattante
; the submarine
Narval
; the
patrol boats
Poulmic
and
Vikings
, and the
corvettes
Mimosa
and
Alysse
.
See also
[
edit
]
|
---|
- Africa and Middle East
- Europe
- Indian Ocean and Asia
- North America
|
References
[
edit
]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Paul Auphan and Jacques Mordal,
The French Navy in World War II
(1976)
- Cornic, Jacques (1987). "Sous La Croix de Lorraine (Under the Cross of Lorraine): The FNFL (Forces Navales Francaises Libres) 1940?1943 (Free French Naval Forces)".
Warship International
.
XXIV
(1): 35?43.
ISSN
0043-0374
.
- Robinson, Richard (1988). "Re: Sous La Croix de Lorraine".
Warship International
.
XXV
(2): 116.
ISSN
0043-0374
.
- 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
- Spencer C. Tucker (2011).
World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia
. ABC-CLIO. pp. 281?84.
ISBN
9781598844580
.
External links
[
edit
]
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