The Vichy French scuttled all ships of any military value at Toulon, their large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, on November 27, 1942. This aerial photograph, taken by the Royal Air Force the next day over the Quais de Milhaud harbor area, testifies to the thoroughness with which the French seamen carried out their bitter task. L–R: Battleship Strasbourg and cruisers Colbert, Algérie, and Marseillaise. The Strasbourg, whose bridge remained above water, capsized after a US bombing attack on August 18, 1944. Free French Forces of Gen. Jean de Lattre de Tassigny captured Toulon ten days later.
