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 Air Service naval aircraft, seaplanes and flying boats, that escaped from German-occupied France after the Battle of France, together with naval aircraft from the French colonies that declared allegiance to de Gaulle's Free French Forces, and aircraft donated by the British and Americans. It carried out Marine patrols and operations against Axis forces in France during 1944-45. It formed the basis for the postwar French Naval Air Service. Free French Naval Air Service The Free French Naval Air Service (Aéronavale française libre) was the naval aviation arm of Free French Naval Forces during the Second World War. The Free French Naval Air