Battle of Dakar - Background

Background

At the beginning of World War II, the French fleet in the Mediterranean was to have countered the Italian Navy, thereby leaving the British Royal Navy free to concentrate on the German warships in the North Sea and Atlantic. After the defeat of France and the conclusion of the armistice between France and Nazi Germany in June 1940, there was considerable confusion as to the allegiance of the various French colonies. Some, like French Cameroun and French Equatorial Africa, joined the Free French, but others, such as French North Africa, French West Africa, Syria and French Indochina, remained under Vichy French control. The possibility that the French fleet might come under German control led the British to attack the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir on 3 July 1940. While the British had eliminated a potential threat, the attack discouraged other units from joining the Free French and Allies.

De Gaulle believed that he could persuade the French forces in Dakar to join the Allied cause. Much would be gained by this. Another Vichy French colony changing sides would have great political impact. Also the gold reserves of the Banque de France and the Polish government in exile were stored in Dakar; and the port of Dakar was far superior as a naval base to Freetown, Sierra Leone, which was the only Allied port in the area.

Thus, the Allies decided to send a task force to Dakar: an aircraft carrier (HMS Ark Royal), two battleships (HMS Resolution and Barham), five cruisers, ten destroyers, and several transports carrying 8,000 troops. Their orders were to negotiate with the French governor for a peaceful occupation, but if this was unsuccessful, to take the city by force.

The Vichy forces present at Dakar included the unfinished battleship Richelieu, one of the most advanced warships in the French fleet, then about 95% complete. She had left Brest, France on 18 June, just before the Germans reached the port. Before the establishment of the Vichy government, HMS Hermes, a British aircraft carrier, had been operating with the French forces in Dakar. Once the Vichy regime was in power, however, Hermes left port but remained on watch, and was joined by the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Australia. Aircraft from Hermes attacked the Richelieu and had struck her once with a torpedo. The French ship was immobilized but was still able to function as a floating gun battery.

A force of three cruisers (Gloire, Georges Leygues, and Montcalm) and three destroyers had left Toulon in southern France for Dakar just a few days earlier. Gloire was slowed by mechanical troubles and was intercepted by Australia which ordered it to sail for Casablanca. The other two cruisers and the destroyers outran the pursuing Allied cruisers and reached Dakar safely. Three Vichy submarines and several lighter ships were also at Dakar.