The French Navy in WWII had by the hardest job of any country's navy. They were harrassed by everyone and probably fired on ships of more other countries than any other navy. This is a very quick overview of the French Navy's participation in WWII.

Early in the war, France sent many ships to help the British in actions around Norway. Soon enough, the French navy was pulling off the miracle at Dunkirque. Unlike the British Forces, Many of the French forces were captured, especially the naval support forces that ran and protected the harbours. As the Germans rolled across France, the Naval forces did a very through job of getting everything that could be moved out of reach. Small ships along the north coast headed to England. Larger ships and ships on the atlantic and mediteranian coasts that had more time to prepare headed to the French Colonies. There are many tales of the feats of naval personel getting ships and equipment ready to move. Without orders, the captain of the Jean Bart start dredging the earth barrier between the construction basin and open water. Using the highest tides to give a foot of clearance on each side, this 813 foot long battleship was eased clear. She was fueled in the harbor under fire from German tanks and followed a destroyer out to sea without enough equipment to navigate.

The vast majority of the French naval power made it to England or the Colonies. Except for a few ships that were not far enough along in construction to be floated, all the Blue Water navy escaped the Germans. A few older large ships headed to England but the Majority headed to the naval base at Oran. The biggest loss to France was the support equipment and bases.

The armistice treaty was very specific in regards to the French Fleet. The Fleet would be demobilized except for units require for the defense of the colonies and Germany promised not to use any of the fleet other than coastal defense units. Basically, if Germany did not promise to keep hands off the fleet, it would be operating with the allies within days. If they promised not to try to use it, the fleet could be neutralized.

Churchill choose not to believe the French promises that the Fleet would not be turned over to the Germans. Against the recomendations of his own advisors, he ordered the British fleet to capture the French Fleet. This was accomplished with limited loss of life in British ports. At Oran, where the majority of the French fleet was tied up. The result was the loss of nearly 1300 french sailors during the attack and the destruction of a few french ships. The remainder headed back to the Naval base at Toulon. In Alexandria, the personal contacts between commanders who had been working together for several months averted a similar catastrophy and the French ships there were demobilized without incident. The British navy continued to harass French shipping during the next few years, choosing to believe that all ships should join the war effort instead of continuing to supply their familys in occupied France.

As the Americans expanded their role in the war, they chose the next move and chose to believe that the French defending Casablanca would not put up a fight it the Americans showed up unannounced on their shores. Fortunately, the French Forces were vastly outnumbered or the American blunders would have been costly. Even so the French lost many ships and men during the invasion. Having shown the Germans that the French could not defend their colonies, the germans poured troups into North Africa for the first time in the war. Those ships stationed in North Africa had complied with the treaty's stipulation that they would defend as long as there was any reasonable chance. They were now free to rejoin the allied cause against Germany. Many headed to the USA for retro-fits. The few years of war had rapidly changed the needs of the navy. Anti-aircraft defenses were beefed up and scouting aircraft and catapults removed. The 380mm guns of the Richelieu were bored out to accept the 15" shells used in some of the British battleships. The French cruisers and destroyers joined in convoy duties in the North Atlantic and then participated in both the Normandy and Provence landings. The Richelieu and some other ships just missed the last of the action in the north sea and were sent to the Pacific Theater to assist with some of the last operations there.

Much of the strength of the French Fleet remained in the naval base of Toulon. Germany, free of the threat of the french fleet, took control of the remainder of France but failed, due to the diligence of the French Naval command, to capture a single operational ship in the naval base at Toulon. Of the long list of French ships scuttled there, only one was raised and refitted sufficiently to see any service in the Italian navy. It was sunk again by allied bombing raids.