Canuel, Hugues/Tooby, Adam (Illustr.) French Navy 1939–42

The Marine Nationale in World War II

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the French Navy was the most powerful naval force in continental Europe, united in its goal of defending the nation and its colonial empire. It was the result of France's unique naval doctrine and armament development in the 1920s and 1930s as a continental power with global interests. The fall of France destroyed this unity when the fleet was divided between loyalty to Vichy and Free France. In this book, Hugues Canuel presents an insightful, focused operational study of the official French Navy in the Second World War, from its actions alongside its British allies in 1939-40 to the fiery end of the Vichy fleet in the port of Toulon in 1942. Based on extensive French, British and American archival material and the author's years of research, it examines the French warships and their capabilities, the tasks for which the fleet was structured, and the battles it experienced - including operations off Norway and the fight against German raiders in the Atlantic, operations in Indochina, and the battle with the Allies in Operation Torch. With numerous rare photos, spectacular battle scenes, 3D diagrams of engagements and fleet formations, and a map of French maritime areas, this book is an indispensable guide to one of the least known major navies of the Second World War.