1940 July 3rd. Operation Catapult.

• 1940 – World War II: In order to stop the ships from falling into German hands the French fleet of the Atlantic based at Mers El Kébir, is bombarded by the British fleet, coming fromGibraltar, causing the loss of three battleships: Dunkerque, Provence and Bretagne. One thousand two hundred sailors perish.
• Attack on Mers-el-Kébir
• Attack on Mers-el-Kébir
  Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean of World War II
  Battleship Strasbourg under fire.
  Date 3 July 1940 Location Off Mers-el-Kébir, French Algeria, North Africa 35°43′10″N 0°41′20″W Result Disabling of the French flotilla of Mers-el-Kébir
  Belligerents
  United Kingdom	France
  Commanders and leaders
  James Somerville  Dudley Pound	Marcel-Bruno Gensoul  François Darlan
  Strength
  1 aircraft carrier 2 battleships 1 battlecruiser 2 light cruisers 11 destroyers	2 battlecruisers 2 battleships 5 destroyers 1 seaplane tender
  Casualties and losses
  6 aircraft destroyed 2 dead	1 battleship sunk 1 battleship damaged 1 battlecruiser damaged 3 destroyers damaged 1 destroyer grounded 1,297 dead 350 wounded the Attack on Mers-el-Kébir, part of Operation Catapult and also known as the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir, was a British Navy bombardment of the French Navy at its base at Mers-el-Kébir on the coast of what was then French Algeria on 3 July 1940. A British naval task force attacked the French fleet, after giving them a warning that they would do so. The French fleet was at anchor and had not been expecting an assault from the United Kingdom, up until that time. The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,297 French servicemen, the sinking of a battleship and the damaging of five other ships. France and the United Kingdom were not at war but France had signed an armistice with Germany, and the UK feared the French fleet would end up as a part of the German Navy, a fate that would greatly increase the Kriegsmarine's size and combat ability. Although French Admiral François Darlanhad assured Winston Churchill[2]the fleet would not fall into German possession, the British acted upon the assumption that Darlan's promises were insufficient guarantees.[3]