Great Britain · Warfare / World War, 2nd. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.
The Royal Navy destroys most of the French Navy at Mers-el-Kebir. Engagement off the coast of French Algeria where a British Royal Navy task force attacked and destroyed much of the French fleet stationed there, in an attempt to avoid its falling into the hands of the German Navy
Ark Royal sinks Dunkerqueat at Mers-el-Kebir
The British Admiral James Somerville of Force H, based in Gibraltar, is ordered to deliver an ultimatum to the French
Winston Churchill ordered that the French Navy (Marine Nationale) should either join forces with the British Royal Navy or be neutralised in some way, to prevent the ships from falling into German or Italian hands
This factsheet is generated from stored World History Database records matching the country, broad category, detailed category and exact Event value shown above. Duplicate display records are collapsed; database wording is otherwise preserved. Source provenance varies by record, so formal academic citation should be checked against the relevant primary source, archive or specialist historical reference.