Counter-admiral Gabriel Paul Auphan (November 4, 1894, Alès – April 16, 1982) was a French naval officer who became the State Secretary of the Navy (secrétaire d'État à la Marine) of the Vichy government from April to November 1942.
enseigne de vaisseau
Ensign (; Late Middle English, from Old French (), from Latin (plural)) is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was trad ...
in October 1914, he served on board ''Jeanne-d'Arc'' in the northern squadron, then in April 1915, in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
where he participated to operations in the Dardanelles.
In September 1915, assigned to the intelligence service established in an island in the Levantine Mediterranean, he organized a network covering the entire Levant. He continued to lead this mission as of August 1916, as second in command of aviso ''Laborieux'', then at Kastelórizo on the coast of
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
.
Second in command of
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
in September 1917, he participated in campaigns in the
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
until the end of the war. In January 1919, he was sent to
Rijeka
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
to serve in the intelligence service, then in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
(1920–1922), and wrote studies of analysis on the role of '' torpilleurs'' during the
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...
and the employment of tactical submarines engaged in chases by groups in which he advocated the anticipation of ideas which were later realized by Admiral Donitz during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Assigned in June 1922 to the État-Major général de la marine, he launched the construction of the . Apprentice at ''École de guerre navale'' (1923–1924), he commanded in 1925, the submarine in the Mediterranean.
Capitaine de corvette
Corvette captain is a rank in many navies which theoretically corresponds to command of a corvette (small warship). The equivalent rank in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth, and United States is lieutenant commander. The Royal Canadian Navy use ...
in January 1927, he was assigned in the previous November to the cabinet of
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-arma ...
, minister of the Navy (french: link=no, Ministre de la Marine), where he particularly worked towards the specific enacting of the organic decree of April 22, 1927 which reorganized the
navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
.
He was appointed to command the
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
in the Mediterranean in 1929, Capitaine de frigate in April 1930, he was tasked to manage and run the application school of the ''enseignes de vaisseau'' embarked on board the 1st Light Division which replaced in provision the ''Jeanne-d'Arc'' and conducted accordingly a long campaign on the African coasts, Antilles and the Mediterranean. He then commanded a squadron of large destroyers comprising and in the Mediterranean.
Director of the center of studies and second in command of the ''École navale'' at Brest in 1933, he served then in the cabinet of
François Piétri François Piétri (8 August 1882 – 17 August 1966) was a minister in several governments in the later years of the French Third Republic and was French ambassador to Spain from 1940 to 1944 under the Vichy regime.
Born in Bastia, Corsica to Antoi ...
, minister of the Navy (french: link=no, Ministre de la Marine) (1934–1935), then commanded the cruiser ''Émile-Bertin'' in squadron in the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
.
Capitaine de Vaisseau
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain.
Equivalent ranks worldwide includ ...
in October 1936, he received in October 1937 the command of the ''Jean-d'Arc'' and the application school of the ''enseignes de vaisseau'' with whom he conducted a tour around the world (1937–1938) and a second campaign in the Atlantic and the Pacific. He exercised the functions of military governor of
Polynesia
Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...
(1938–1939). He was accordingly assigned to studies section of the État-Major general. In anticipation of the war which was expected, he was sent to London to coordinate future operations with the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
. He held his own views regarding the evacuation at
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.François Darlan, Maurice Le Luc and Négadelle, the reception of various inbound convoys.
At the service of Vichy
At Vichy, the counter-admiral Auphan was part of the tenant groups which harbored a political view of ''attentisme'' (the act of waiting and refraining until situations become more clear and precise). Designated as chief of the headquarter staff of maritime forces (french: link=no, chef d'état-major des forces maritimes) in August 1941, he maintained contact with the American diplomatic representation to Vichy by transmitting various couriers. State Secretary of the Navy (french: link=no, Secrétaire d'État à la Marine) as of April 1942, he opposed the demanding German requirements related to materials of merchant tonnage. Along with
French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...
general Maxime Weygand, he assumed a staunch position of opposition to the politics of collaboration at the corps of the government. A partisan of a suspension of combat between French and Americans during the Anglo-American disembarking of November 8, 1942 in North Africa, he opposed those who wanted to continue to mount combat along the Germans.
On November 11, 1942, chef d'état major, counter-admiral Auphan ordered the two admirals of Toulon to:
* oppose, without shedding blood, the entry of foreign troops in the establishments, the aerial bases, and naval auxiliaries;
* oppose similarly the entry of foreign troops on board of the fleet's naval vessels; by local negotiations, effort one self to arrive to a mutual accord;
* in case impossible, scuttle the fleet.
This last solution which was applied, on the night of November 26 and 27, 1942, when admirals André Marquis, maritime prefect and
Jean de Laborde
Jean de Laborde (29 November 1878 – 30 July 1977) was a French admiral who had a long career starting at the end of the 19th century and extending to World War II after which he was convicted of treason and sentenced to death. A pioneer of Fren ...
, commanding forces of the high-seas, heard that the Germans were moving forward to attempt to make way with the fleet. After having tried without success to incite Philippe Pétain to leave the metropolis, he tendered his resignation on November 18, 1942.
On August 11, 1944, he was tasked by marshal Pétain to approach général de Gaulle. He was not received and was accordingly arrested.
After 1945
On August 14, 1946, he was judged and condemned in absentia to forced labor, degraded national status, and confiscation of his properties. On July 19 and 20, 1955, a second hearing condemned him to only five years in prison with probationary measure and five years of degraded national status. In 1956, the State Council gave him back his rank and rights for pension.
Auphan dedicated his life later to writings: a close figure to General Maxime Weygand or
Colonel Rémy
Gilbert Renault (August 6, 1904 – July 29, 1984), known by the nom de guerre Colonel Rémy, was a notable French secret agent active in World War II, and was known under various pseudonyms such as ''Raymond'', ''Jean-Luc'', ''Morin'', ''Watteau' ...
, he published his souvenirs, defended his views and remained loyal to the memories of Marshal Philippe Pétain. The Counter-admiral Auphan was a member of the Association of
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
writers until his death, in 1982.
Publications
* ''La Lutte pour la vie 1940–1942 ou La Marine au service des Français'' (1947)
* ''Mensonges et vérité – Essai sur la France'' (1949)
* ''Les grimaces de l'histoire et l'histoire de mes trahisons'' (1951)
* ''Les échéances de l'histoire ou l'éclatement des empires coloniaux de l'Occident'' (1952)
* ''Le Drame de la désunion européenne'' (1955)
* ''La Marine dans l'histoire de France'' (1955)
* ''La Marine française dans la Seconde Guerre mondiale'' (1958)
* ''Histoire de la Méditerranée'' (1962)
* ''Histoire élémentaire de Vichy'' (1971)
* ''Histoire de la décolonisation'' (1975)
* ''L'honneur de servir'' (1978)
* ''Au service de l'Église'' (1988)
Georges Cabanier
Admiral Georges Cabanier (21 November 1906 – 26 October 1976) was a French Naval Officer and Admiral, in addition to Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour.
Military career
Entered into the École Navale in 1925, he navigated on several n ...
References
Sources
* Paul Auphan, ''Contre-amiral Auphan et
Jacques Mordal
Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...