Posted on 11/27/2017 3:51:18 PM PST by Bull Snipe
As German Army units overran the French Naval Base at Toulon France, French sailors and officers scuttled their ships to prevent them from falling into German hands. When it was over, 77 French Naval vessels, including 3 battleships, 3 heavy cruiser, 4 light cruisers, 15 destroyers and 12 submarines rest on the bottom of Toulon harbor.
An interesting one. Without the assistance of the French Navy, Washington might not have bagged Lord Cornwallis’s Army at Yorktown in 1781. Seventeen years later, we were in a Naval War the French.
The one and only major victory of the French navy I believe.
It was probably the hand of God that defeated the Brits.
more like an American/French Army and a French Navy.
Don’t understand how the Brits blew that one. It was a miracle for us. Battle of the Capes.
You are spot on.
French Naval ships are the only ones that do flank speed in reverse.
Actually French warships always had a one or two knot advantage over their British counterparts.
I was one year old!...thanks for the history.
For which the Brits thanked them heartily as they generally wound up being captured and used against the French!!
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