René-Émile Godfroy (10 January 1885 – 16 January 1981) was a French admiral, commander of the Force X at the outbreak of the Second World War. He was interned with his command at

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 ...

until 1943, and then retired on suspicion of favouring Henri Giraud over

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 ...

Biography

Godfroy was born at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In June 1940, he commanded French naval forces at

, where he negotiated, with British Admiral Andrew Cunningham, the peaceful internment of his ships. The French squadron consisted of the battleship , four cruisers (, , and ), three destroyers (, , ) and a submarine (). The French emptied their fuel bunkers and removed the firing mechanisms from their guns. Cunningham promised to repatriate the ships' crews. Controversially, after the collapse of Vichy authority following British and American landings in North Africa in November 1942 and the subsequent German occupation of

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

in November 1942, Godfroy refused to support the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

even after all other French forces in North Africa had done so. It was only on 17 May 1943, after the Allies had cleared North Africa of Axis forces, that the British Commander-in-Chief, Levant, received a letter from Godfroy expressing the desire "to join the French Navy in North Africa". Docking of the French warships was at once started at Alexandria.Tute, Warren, 1989, The Reluctant Enemies, London: William Collins Sons René-Emile Godfroy died at

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

, southern France, in January 1981, aged 96.

References

External links

New York Times report, 22 January 1981
1885 births 1981 deaths Military personnel from Paris Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour {{France-mil-bio-stub French Navy admirals of World War II