The Free French Naval Forces (, or FNFL) were the naval arm of the
Free French Forces
__NOTOC__
The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. They were commanded by Admiral
Émile Muselier
Émile Henry Muselier (; 17 April 1882 – 2 September 1965) was a French admiral who led the Free French Naval Forces ('' Forces navales françaises libres'', or FNFL) during World War II. He was responsible for the idea of distinguishing his ...
.
History
In the wake of the
Armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...
and the
Appeal of 18 June
The Appeal of 18 June () was the first speech made by Charles de Gaulle after his arrival in London in 1940 following the Battle of France. Broadcast to France by the radio services of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is often cons ...
,
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...
founded the
Free French Forces
__NOTOC__
The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...
(''
Forces Françaises Libres
Free France () was a resistance government
claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a government-in-exile in Lond ...
'', or FFL), including a naval arm, the "Free French Naval Forces" (''Les Forces Navales Françaises 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.
[ Playfair]
The Mediterranean & Middle East, Volume I: The Early Successes against Italy (to May 1941)
p. 137 On 30 June, De Gaulle was joined by Vice-Admiral
Émile Muselier
Émile Henry Muselier (; 17 April 1882 – 2 September 1965) was a French admiral who led the Free French Naval Forces ('' Forces navales françaises libres'', or FNFL) during World War II. He was responsible for the idea of distinguishing his ...
, who had come from
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
by
flying boat
A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy.
Though ...
. 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
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
in
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. At the first stage of
Operation Catapult
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
, the ships in the British ports of
Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
and
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
were simply boarded on the night of 3 July 1940. The then-largest
submarine
A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
in the world, , 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
battleship
A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...
s and , the
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
s and , eight
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
s, five submarines (, ) and a number of other smaller vessels. 3,600 sailors operating 50 ships around the world joined with the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
and formed the nucleus of the Free French Naval Forces
[Axelrod & Kingston, p. 362.] France's surrender found her only aircraft carrier, , 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, ''Béarn'' instead sought harbour in
Martinique
Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...
, 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.
As soon as the summer 1940, the submarines ''Minerve'' and ''Junon'', as well as four
aviso
An ''aviso'' was originally a kind of dispatch boat or "advice boat", carrying orders before the development of effective remote communication.
The term, derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word for "advice", "notice" or "warning", an ...
s, departed from Plymouth. Towards the end of 1940, the destroyers ''Le Triomphant'' and ''Léopard'' followed. ''Le Triomphant'' sailed for
New Caledonia
New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
and spent the rest of the war based there and in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. 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.
To distinguish the FNFL from the
Vichist forces, Vice-Admiral Émile Muselier created the
bow flag displaying the French colours with a red
Cross of Lorraine
The Cross of Lorraine (), known as the Cross of Anjou in the 16th century, is a heraldry, heraldic two-barred cross, consisting of a vertical line crossed by two shorter horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizontal bars are "graded" with ...
, and a cocarde also featuring the Cross of Lorraine for aircraft of the
Free French Naval Air Service
The Free French Naval Forces (, or FNFL) were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Émile Muselier.
History
In the wake of the Armistice and the Appeal of 18 June, Charles de Gaul ...
(
''Aéronavale Française Libre'') and the
Free French Air Force
The Free French Air Forces (, FAFL) were the air arm of the Free French Forces in the Second World War, created by Charles de Gaulle in 1940. The designation ceased to exist in 1943 when the Free French Forces merged with General Giraud's force ...
(
''Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres'').
A number of ships were leased from the British to compensate for the lack of warships in the FNFL, among them, the and the .
The FNFL suffered their first loss when the patrol boat hit a
mine and sank on 7 November 1940 off Plymouth.
Africa
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
French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...
by personally sailing to
Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
with a British fleet which included a few Free French units; at the same time, a
cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...
force had been sent by Vichy France to reclaim African territories which had already announced their support to De Gaulle (notably
Chad
Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
). The resulting
Battle of Dakar
The Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt in September 1940 by the Allies of World War II, Allies to capture the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa (modern-day Senegal). It was hoped that the succ ...
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 , the
heavy cruiser
A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...
,
light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
s , , , and a few destroyers, including cruiser-sized s.
Role in the French Resistance
Captain
d'Estienne d'Orves attempted to unite the
French Resistance
The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...
, became an inspiring symbol when he was arrested, tortured by the
Gestapo
The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
and executed.
D-Day: Operation Neptune

In the summer of 1944, the
Invasion of Normandy
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 ( D-Day) with the ...
took place. The FNFL took part in both the naval side of the operations, ''
Operation Neptune
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
'', and the landing itself, with the Naval Commandos (''
Commandos Marine
The Commandos Marine, nicknamed ''Bérets Verts'' (Green Berets), are the special operation forces (SOF) of the French Navy, headquartered in Lorient, Brittany in western France. They operate under the Special Operations Command (COS), FOR ...
'') of Captain
Philippe Kieffer
Philippe Kieffer (24 October 1899 – 20 November 1962), '' capitaine de frégate'' in the French Navy, was a French officer and political personality, and a hero of the Free French Forces.
Life and career
Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to ...
, climbing cliffs under fire to destroy German shore batteries.
The ships of the FNFL were deployed off the landing sites :
*
Utah Beach: corvettes ''Aconit'' and
*
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during the Second World War.
On June 6, 1944, the Allies of World War II, Allies invaded German military administration in occupied Fra ...
: cruisers ''
Georges Leygues
Georges Leygues (; 29 October 1856 – 2 September 1933) was a French politician of the Third Republic. During his time as Minister of Marine he worked with the navy's chief of staff Henri Salaun in unsuccessful attempts to gain naval re-arm ...
'' and ''Montcalm''; frigates and ; and corvette
*
Gold Beach
Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of German military administration in occupied France during World War II, German-occupied France in the Normandy la ...
: corvette
*
Juno Beach
Juno and or Juno Beach was one of five beaches of the Allies (World War II), Allied invasion of German occupation of France during World War II, German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 during the World War II, Second Wo ...
: frigate ; corvette ; and torpedo boat ''La Combattante''
In addition the obsolete battleship ''Courbet'' was
scuttled
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull.
Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vesse ...
off
Arromanches
Arromanches-les-Bains (; or simply Arromanches) is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France.
Geography
Arromanches-les-Bains is 12 km north-east of Bayeux and 10 km west of Courseulles-su ...
to serve as a breakwater for a
Mulberry harbour
The Mulberry harbours were two temporary portable harbours developed by the Admiralty (United Kingdom), British Admiralty and War Office during the Second World War to facilitate the rapid offloading of cargo onto beaches during the Allies of ...
.
The cruisers ''Georges Leygues'' and ''Montcalm'', along with the battleship provided fire support for the infantry until 10 June.
''La Combattante'' silenced German
coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications.
From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...
of
Courseulles-sur-Mer
Courseulles-sur-Mer (, ), commonly known as ''Courseulles'', is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Until 1957, the town's name was simply ''Courseulles''. It lies 3 km west of Bernières-sur-Mer and 18&n ...
. The next day, she started patrolling the
English Channel
The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
. On 14 July, she ferried General Charles de Gaulle to France.
Pacific War
''Le 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
Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...
and
Ocean Island before an anticipated Japanese
invasion
An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...
. ''Triomphant'' was later stationed along the east coast of Australia, where in early 1943 it was involved in the rescue of the survivors from , which was sunk by a
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
fired by the . After the rescue, ''Triomphant'' then searched for ''I-21'' for a day, but without success.
From 1944, the battleship ''Richelieu'' and destroyer leaders ''Le Terrible'' and ''Le Fantasque'' operated with the British Eastern Fleet in combat operations against Japan, and later took part in
Operation Tiderace
Operation Tiderace was the codename of the British plan to retake Singapore following the Japanese surrender in 1945. The liberation force was led by Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia Command. Tiderace was ...
, the Liberation of Singapore.
Technical innovations
The FNFL also harboured technical innovators, like Captain
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful open-circuit self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), called the A ...
, who invented the modern
aqua-lung, and
Yves Rocard
Yves-André Rocard (; 22 May 1903 – 16 March 1992) was a French physicist who helped develop the atomic bomb for France.
Lifes
Rocard was born in Vannes. After obtaining a double doctorate in mathematics (1927) and physics (1928) he was aw ...
, who helped perfect
radar
Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
. The aqua-lung became a major improvement for commando operations. However, Jacques Cousteau joined the FNFL only after the
liberation of France
The liberation of France () in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance.
Nazi Germany in ...
. He had spent the entirety of the war in France and developed the aqua-lung in Paris during the German occupation.
Losses
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
A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
''Surcouf'', possibly sunk in a
friendly fire
In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy or hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while ...
incident. Other losses include the
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
s ''Léopard'' and ''La Combattante''; the submarine ; the
patrol boat
A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...
s ''Poulmic'' and ''Vikings'', and the
corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...
s ''Mimosa'' and ''Alysse''.
See also
*
List of submarines of France
The submarines of France include Nuclear submarine, nuclear attack submarines and nuclear ballistic missile submarines of various List of submarine classes, classes, operated by the French Navy as part of the Submarine forces (France), French Subma ...
*
List of ships of the Free French Naval Forces
*
List of Escorteurs of the French Navy
The ''escorteurs'' of the French Navy were light naval warships used for convoy protection during and after the Second World War.
The earliest ''escorteurs'' in the French Navy were purchased from the British Royal Navy and the United States Navy ...
References
Further reading
* Paul Auphan and Jacques Mordal, ''The French Navy in World War II'' (1976)
*
*
* Martin Thomas, "After Mers-el-Kebir: The Armed Neutrality of the Vichy French Navy, 1940-43," ''English Historical Review'' (1997) 112#447 pp 643–7
in JSTOR*
External links
*
charles-de-gaulle.org*
*
{{Authority control