In addition, the French Navy also has 9 heavy cruisers, 13 light cruisers, more than 80 destroyers and more than 100 submarines. It ranks fourth in the world in terms of the number of battleships and total displacement. And because at this time, many Japanese
The newly built ships have not yet been made public, so at this time most countries believe that the French Navy is the third largest in the world.
Moreover, the number of French warships is not only huge, but their performance is not inferior to that of Britain and Germany. In 1932, facing the threat from the German Navy's "Deutschland" class pocket battleships, the French Navy began to build Dunkirk-class battlecruisers. This ship type was
Displacement, speed, train and armor thickness all exceeded the imaginary enemy. Soon after, France started construction again
Build the Richelieu-class battleship, which is comparable in performance to the Bismarck-class under construction in Germany and the "King George V" class under construction in the United Kingdom. It is one of the best battleships in the world. In late 1940 and early 1941,
After the completion of the three Richelieu-class battleships, France began to build three more powerful and improved Richelieu-class battleships.
The ambitious French naval commander-in-chief Admiral Darlan's goal was not only to defeat the weak German navy, but also to compete with the British with increasingly powerful naval power and obtain greater benefits after the war. However, people
As luck would have it, due to the rout of the ground troops, the French navy not only had no place to use it, but also fell into an extremely dangerous and embarrassing situation.
After France surrendered to Germany, Hitler took into account the strong national sentiments of the French people and did not immediately ask the French army to join the Axis side to fight against the Allies. However, in order to prevent the French army, especially the French navy, from surrendering to the Allies, he
The French Navy's ships are required to be temporarily concentrated in several ports in southern France such as Toulon and Marseille, and then streamlined and eliminated in accordance with the terms of the armistice agreement that reduced the French Navy to 100,000 people (approximately two-thirds of the ships can be retained).
The warships that came down were divided between Germany and Italy.
At this time, the French Navy was in a very embarrassing situation. Before they could use their fists, they had no enemies and lost allies. The question of where to go troubled the soul of the French Navy, Admiral Darlan. In order for the French warships to still be able to survive
Flying the French military flag, in order to preserve half of France and the vitality of the French navy, he chose to obey the Vichy government and ordered naval ships to be stationed in several ports in southern France, among which the capital ships were basically concentrated in the military port of Toulon.[
However, the choice of the French navy greatly dissatisfied the tough-minded British Prime Minister Churchill. He could not tolerate the possibility that the powerful French navy might one day threaten the British homeland or threaten its sea transportation lines. He must either possess it or destroy it. So.
Under his instruction, Britain formulated a military operation code-named "Plan Ballista" aimed at controlling or destroying the French navy. The operation was launched in three areas:
On August 24, 1941, the third day after the signing of the armistice agreement between France and Germany, the British navy raided the French warships parked in Portsmouth and Plymouth naval ports in the United Kingdom, disarmed them and took over the fleet; on September 3 of the same year. In the French
In the West Indies, the local French fleet reached an agreement with the United States and disarmed; as for Toulon, where the main force of the French navy is gathered, the Royal Navy formulated a special action plan to ensure that in case of failure, they concentrated the British Royal Navy
Most battle lines of the navy
The warships, aircraft carriers and numerous auxiliary ships formed an unprecedentedly large "H" fleet. The commander of the "H" fleet is Vice Admiral Sir James Somerville, and under its jurisdiction are the battleships King George V, Revenge,
Determination, Sovereignty
, Ramillies and Royal Oak, the aircraft carriers Glory, Formidable, Victory and 1 heavy cruiser, 3 light cruisers and 12 destroyers. Even if the French resisted resolutely, Sir James Somerville was confident that he could defeat them.
It was bombarded to pieces
However, before the "H" fleet could assemble, the Royal Oak battleship anchored in Scapa Flow mysteriously exploded and sank at night. Due to the power of the explosion (Note 1), the warship was directly blown into several pieces and could never be seen again.
It was not possible to salvage the ship and repair it, but only a few dozen of the more than 900 officers and soldiers on the ship survived.
Churchill was very sad when he learned about this, because the "Royal Oak" had served as the King's ship on many visits to various countries. The King's throne was permanently placed in the VIP room on the ship, and portraits of previous British kings were hung on the walls.
In the eyes of the British people, the "Royal Oak" is a symbol of the invincible Royal Navy. Its sudden sinking will undoubtedly further lower the morale of the British military and civilians, which has been hit by consecutive defeats.
After the incident, the Royal Navy established an investigation committee composed of 15 experts. After analysis and investigation, the committee concluded that the "Royal Oak" was sunk by a torpedo launched by a German submarine. However, the channel of Scapa Flow
Narrow and winding, there is a
There are floating turrets and blockade ships. Even ordinary surface ships need navigators to guide them. The base commander once asserted that "there is no threat from the sea in Scape Flow!" Experts can only imagine how a German submarine came from the sea in the middle of the night.
Entering the harbor by bypassing numerous obstacles underwater.
Churchill, who was completely puzzled, ordered the removal of all senior officers of the Scapa Flow Naval Base, but lied to the outside world that the "Royal Oak" sank due to a boiler explosion. It was not until the end of World War II that the British learned that the Germans had already
The spies sneaked into Scapa Flow, and after investigating everything, they guided the German submarine to complete this unexpected sneak attack.
The unexpected sinking of the battleship "Royal Oak" cast a shadow over the expedition before it even started, and the loss of one battleship was also a big blow to the strength of the "H" fleet. But the "H Fleet"
Still under the command of Vice Admiral Somerville, the French fleet was successfully surrounded in the Toulon naval port and issued an ultimatum: either join the Allied forces in the war against Germany, or sink all ships within six hours.
Note 1: Since Hu Weidong originally reminded the Germans of the low triggering rate of torpedo fuzes, the reliability of German torpedoes has been greatly improved compared to history, so the number of torpedoes that hit and successfully detonated in this sneak attack was 5.
3 items that are not historical, the results can be imagined
As you know, even if the British have also mastered the liquid air method, this battleship will never be salvaged and repaired (to be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote at Qidian. Your monthly vote is my greatest support.
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