Toulon Scuttling

The French fleet in Toulon was scuttled on 27 November 1942 to avoid capture by Nazi German forces.

The Allied invasion of North Africa had provoked the Germans into invading the ‘Free Zone’ (Vichy France), officially neutral according to the 1940 Armistice. Vichy Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Darlan, defected to join De Gaulle and the Free French, who were gaining increasing support from both servicemen and civilians. His replacement, Admiral Auphan, guessed correctly that the Germans were aiming to seize the large fleet at Toulon (Operation Lila), and issued orders for scuttling these vessels.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuttling_of_the_French_fleet_in_Toulon


The Germans launched a heavy assault, but the naval crews used deception tactics to delay the enemy until scuttling could be carried out. Operation Lila was judged a failure, with the French destroying 77 vessels, with the capture of 39 small ships, while several submarines escaped to French North Africa. It marked the end of Vichy France as a credible power.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuttling_of_the_French_fleet_in_Toulon.