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
Free French Naval Forces sailed for New Caledonia and spent the rest of the war based there and in Australia. The ship saw action in both the Pacific and Indian Oceans. To distinguish the FNFL from the Vichist forces, Vice-Admiral Émile Muselier created the bow flag displaying the French colours with a red Cross of Lorraine, and a cocarde also featuring the Cross of Lorraine for aircraft of the Free French Naval Air Service ("Aéronavale Française Libre") and the Free French Air Force ("Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres"). A number of ships were leased from the British to compensate for the lack of warships in