Gensoul Receives Holland — Mers-el-Kébir 10:00
Admiral commands the French anchored at Mers-el-Kébir, near Oran: the battleships Dunkerque, Strasbourg, Provence, Bretagne and destroyers. Since dawn on 3 July 1940, the powerful British (the battlecruiser Hood, the battleships Valiant and Resolution, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal) has been cruising offshore. The , moored in a narrow roadstead, has its boilers partly extinguished: getting under way to fight would take many hours.
At 10:00, Captain , who speaks French, comes aboard to present an ultimatum signed by Admiral Somerville. Four options are offered: rally to the Royal Navy to continue the fight; sail to a British port with reduced crews; sail to the French West Indies or the United States to disarm there; or scuttle within six hours. Failing a positive response, will open fire.
Gensoul, who has not handed his fleet over to the Germans and considers his honour at stake, must decide within hours, under the guns of an ally of the day before. The deadline set by the ultimatum runs until 5:00 p.m., and every message must transit through Admiral Darlan in Vichy, thousands of kilometres from the roadstead.
How should Gensoul reply to the British ultimatum?
Gensoul chooses C, with a tragic consequence: he sends Darlan an abridged account of the ultimatum, mentioning scuttling and combat but omitting the West Indies option — the one most likely to avert the drama. Darlan replies that he must answer 'force with force.' Gensoul has the boilers lit and prepares for battle. At 4:54 p.m., opens fire. The historian has shown that the non-transmission of the West Indies option was the turning point of the episode: a truncated communication, under tension, closed the only negotiated outcome. Gensoul, blamed by historians for this omission, will defend his conduct until his death.
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