Vichy France (July 1940–September 1944), France under the regime of Marshal Philippe Petain, from France’s defeat by Nazi Germany to its liberation by the Allies in World War II. After France's defeat by Nazi Germany, 84-year old Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain, hero of Verdun in WWI, was appointed the new premier. Operation Lila was a failure. On 11 November, as German and Italian troops encircled Toulon, the Vichy Secretary of the Navy, Admiral On the French side, as a token of goodwill towards the Germans, coastal defences were strengthened to safeguard Toulon from an attack from the sea by the Allies. In the same region, on 17 June, the auxiliary cruiser Pretoria Castle, one of the armed merchant ships used by the British to patrol distant waters, seized another Vichy ship, Desirade. loss became thoroughly inevitable within days of the initial assault on Belgium
French forces were commanded by Admiral Jean de Laborde (chief of the "High sea fleet", composed of the 38 most modern and powerful warships) and Admiral André Marquis (Under the armistice, French ships were supposed to have their fuel tanks almost empty; in fact, through falsification of reports and tampering with gauges, the crews had managed to store enough fuel to reach North Africa. Of considerable size by 1918, she was drastically reduced after Washington’s treat limitation in 1922, shaping in the end a smaller, but homogeneous fleet of excellent overall quality, but nevertheless with some inherent limitations that would have hampered its capabil… Grand Admiral Raeder was led to believe that the German aim was to use anti-British sentiment amongst the French sailors to have them side with the Italians, while Hitler was really preparing to seize the fleet. These preparations included preparations for scuttling the fleet, in case a landing attempt by the Allies succeeded. The settlement was that Toulon should remain a "stronghold" under Vichy control and defended against the Allies and "French enemies of the government of the Marechal".
The crews of The objective of Operation Lila was to capture the units of the French fleet at Toulon intact, and was carried out by the The Operation was initiated by the Germans on 19 November 1942, to be completed by 27 November. The French destroyed 77 vessels, including 3 battleships, 7 cruisers, 15 destroyers, 13 Several submarines ignored orders to scuttle and chose to defect to French North Africa: General Charles de Gaulle heavily criticised the Vichy admirals for not ordering the fleet to flee to Algiers.
Its The history of French naval power dates back to the The symbol of the French Navy was since its origin a golden Cardinal Richelieu personally supervised the Navy until his death in 1643.During this century, the Navy cut its teeth in the The Navy regrouped and rebuilt, and within 15 years it was eager to join the fray when Within less than a decade, however, the Navy was decimated by the Other engagements of the Revolutionary Wars ensued in the early 1800s, including the After Napoleon's fall in 1815, the long era of Anglo-French rivalry on the seas began to close, and the Navy became more of an instrument for expanding the The Navy continued to protect colonial safety and expansion under the The 19th century French Navy brought forth numerous new technologies.
The attack came as a complete surprise to the Vichy officers, but Dornon transmitted the order to scuttle the fleet to Admiral Laborde aboard the Twenty minutes later, German troops entered the arsenal and started machine-gunning the French submarines. The abbreviation MN stands for Marine Nationale, literally "national navy". La Marine Française (French Navy) is still called “La Royale” to this day (“Royal” (navy)) according to its pre-revolutionary traditions. The settlement was that Toulon should remain a "stronghold" under Vichy control and defended against the Allies and "French enemies of the government of the Marechal". While the German Naval War Staff were disappointed, Adolf Hitler considered that the elimination of the French fleet sealed the success of Case Anton.Most of the light cruisers were salvaged by the Italians, either to restore them as fighting ships or for scrap. From 11 November 1942 negotiations took place between Germany and Vichy France.
Vichy French forces, particularly the fleet in Toulon, consisted mostly of French warships, small army garrisons, and shore batteries. The cruisers 1942 destruction of the French naval fleet by Vichy France On 22 June 1940, Petain signed the Franco-German Armistice that divided France into occupied and unoccupied zones. Petty officers must be at least 17 but no more than 24 years old, with at least a high school diploma giving access to university studies. Orders to implement the plan were given on 19 November.