Marcel-Bruno Gensoul (12 October 1880 – 30 December 1973) was a French admiral who commanded the

Force de Raid The ''Force de Raid'' (Raiding Force) was a French naval squadron formed at Brest during naval mobilization for World War II. The squadron commanded by Vice Amiral d'Escadre Marcel Gensoul consisted of the most modern French capital ships ''Dun ...

, based at

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

until the

Armistice of 22 June 1940 The Armistice of 22 June 1940 was signed at 18:36 near Compiègne, France, by officials of Nazi Germany and the Third French Republic. It did not come into effect until after midnight on 25 June. Signatories for Germany included Wilhelm Keitel ...

. Then, the force was transferred to

Mers El Kébir Mers El Kébir ( ar, المرسى الكبير, translit=al-Marsā al-Kabīr, lit=The Great Harbor ) is a port on the Mediterranean Sea, near Oran in Oran Province, northwest Algeria. It is famous for the attack on the French fleet in 1940, in t ...

in French North Africa. Gensoul was subsequently involved in abortive negotiations with British Admiral

James Somerville Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Fownes Somerville, (17 July 1882 – 19 March 1949) was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War as fleet wireless officer for the Mediterranean Fleet where he was involved in providing naval supp ...

that culminated in the bombardment and

Attack on Mers-el-Kébir The Attack on Mers-el-Kébir (Battle of Mers-el-Kébir) on 3 July 1940, during the Second World War, was a British naval attack on neutral French Navy ships at the naval base at Mers El Kébir, near Oran, on the coast of French Algeria. The atta ...

the 3 July 1940. Gensoul never commented on these events.

References

1973 deaths French military personnel of World War II French Navy admirals 1880 births {{France-mil-bio-stub