Battle of Trafalgar at Toulon on the Mediterranean coast. Other ports on the French Atlantic coast harboured smaller squadrons. France and Spain were allied, so the Spanish fleet based in Cádiz and Ferrol was also available. The British possessed an experienced and well-trained corps of naval officers. By contrast, some of the best officers in the French navy had either been executed or had left the service during the early part of the French Revolution. Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve had taken command of the French Mediterranean fleet following the death of Latouche Treville. There had been more competent officers, but they had either been
Military history of France during World War II the French blamed the British for their deaths. Operation Catapult was called «"treachery"» by both the Vichy and Free French. The French State exploited this series of events in its anti-British propaganda which has a long-running history back to the Perfidious Albion myth. The French Navy took part in the naval Battle of the Atlantic from 1939 to 1940. After the armistice of June 1940, Free French Naval Forces, headed by admiral Émile Muselier, were created and pursued the war on the Allies side. The Free French Navy's submarine "Minerve" was involved in the Allied battle against the Allied battle