The Alexandria scorecard includes a French submarine among the boats destroyed, which leads into the uncertainty over French naval allegiance after 1940. A boat encountered in the war zone might have a pro-German commander or operate under German or Italian direction. British crews therefore treated nationality alone as insufficient evidence that a French submarine was neutral or friendly. Mers-el-Kébir gives this targeting problem its political context.
Notable Point · 30:32-31:07
French submarines and Mediterranean identification risk
British submariners treated French boats in the war zone as potential Axis-controlled threats because nationality no longer guaranteed allegiance.