3 July 1940:

These air actions were part of the failed attempt to avoid firing on the French Fleet during Operation Catapult:

Catapults commander, Vice-Admiral Sir James F. Somerville, KCB, DSO, RN had specified a deadline of 1330 hours for the French to agree to the British demands for demilitarisation of their ships at Oran, after which the Force H would endeavour to sink them. Throughout the morning and early afternoon the complex negotiations showed little progress, but in an effort to avoid the conflict that neither side wanted, Somerville extended this deadline first to 1530 and then to 1730. Unfortunately, the later extension was not passed on to Vice-Admiral Aircraft Carriers L. V. Wells, CB, DSO, RN on HMS Ark Royal, which was operating independently to more easily conduct flight operations. Thus, the Fleet Air Arms participation in Catapult began prior to actual hostilities commencing.

At 1525 HMS Ark Royal dispatched seven Swordfish were to perform two diverse tasks. First, five were to drop cucumbers (i.e., magnetic mines) in the harbour mouth to deny egress to the French battleships. The remaining two were to spot for the bombardment force (HMS Hood, HMS Valiant, and HMS Resolution). In the event, not having been informed that the deadline had been extended, the minelayers swooped in and laid their cucumbers as prescribed at 1545. Meanwhile, the two spotters orbited to seaward of the port awaiting the word to open-fire, which finally occurred at 1743. From then until the cease fire order at 1804 they performed the assigned task, after which both were set upon by French fighters, but the former was able to evade its attacker with low speed manoeuvering while the latters attacker was dissuaded by AA fire from the fleet.

The considerable delay in hostilities made a shambles of Ark Royals subsequent flight plans, and it was not until 1825 that the first air striking force departed, composed of six Swordfish of 818 Squadron armed with 250 pound SAP bombs, escorted by the three Skuas of 803 Squadrons Green Section.

Although this force had been briefed to deliver a dive bombing attack on the ships in the harbour, the sudden appearance of the Strasbourg force [Strasbourg with contretorpilleurs Volta, Terrible, Kersaint, Lynx, and Tigre from Mers-el-Kebir, joined later by torpilleurs Boulonnais, Palme, Tramontane, Trombe, and Typhon and leger-torpilleur Poursuivante from Algiers] heading to sea in Ark Royals direction caused them to be frantically diverted! By this point, with numerous French fighters aloft the Skuas found themselves in air combat. First, they broke up an attack by five Hawk 75s on one of the spotters during which A7C was hit and spun in, killing both PO(A) Thomas Frank Riddler, RN (P) and NA1 Horace Turner Chatterley, RN (TAG).. After several more scrapes, S-Lt.(A) Brokensha in 7B sighted a Breguet Bizerte flying boat bombing a British destroyer and forced it down with one engine on fire. Both remaining Skuas returned safely to Ark Royal just after sunset.

Meanwhile, the striking force had proceeded to sea. The bombing attack, commencing at 11,000, was pressed well home this high-speed target in the face of heavy AA fire. One hit was believed to have been made, although two damaged Swordfish were hit and forced to land near HMS Wrestler on the return flight, both crews surviving the short dunking. Subsequently it was leaned that no damage had been done. Meanwhile, Ark had hastily ranged a second serial of six Swordfish of 820 Squadron, this time armed with torpedoes. At 1950 the Squadron Commander, Lt.Cdr. Guy Beauchamp Hodgkinson, DSO, MiD, RN led them after the same target. They found them at 2055, twenty minutes after sunset, and attacked from landward with Strasbourg well silhouetted against the failing sunlight, apparently catching the enemy off guard as only the last two aircraft reported any AA fire, the attack ending at 2112..

Observation of results was difficult, but the crews believed that they may have got a single hit. All six aircraft returned safely although, again, no damage had actually been inflicted. The days aerial activity, which include numerous fighter patrols over the fleet, had seen the loss of five aircraft: one Swordfish shadowing the Strasbourg, the two Swordfish and one Skua from the striking force, and another Skua, A7M that force-landed out of fuel near the carrier. Fortunately, the later aircrew, as well as all the TSR crews, were rescued.

6 July 1940:

Operation "Lever", whose purpose was to guarantee that Dunkerque was out of action for at least a year, initially called for another bombardment by HMS Hood and HMS Valiant. However, as Dunkerque was beached in front of the main portions of the port, high civilian casualties would have been expected, something His Majesties Government did not want. Thus, the plan was revised such that a surprise dawn strike by Swordfish TSRs from HMS Ark Royal would be made. The attack plan called for three waves to attack beginning roughly at dawn. At 0520, in position 36.19N, 02.23W, Ark Royal commenced launching first serial, composed of six Swordfish of 820 Squadron. This was followed, at 0545, by a second serial of three Swordfish from 810 Squadron escorted by six Skuas of 800 Squadron.  A third serial followed at 0620, composed of three more Swordfish of 810 Squadron with six Skuas escorts, this time from 803 Squadron.

Based on reconnaissance observations made on 3 July, the British believed that Dunkerque was beached on a heading of 300 degrees, presenting her starboard quarter to attackers coming in over the harbour breakwater from seaward. Unfortunately, as post strike photos would reveal when they were analyzed in 1943 (!), Dunkerque was actually beached on a heading of 250 degrees, meaning that attackers coming over the breakwater would actually be presented with an attack angle from 0 to 15 degrees of the stern axis, or from virtually astern. This fact would have a tremendous effect on the final outcome of the attack.

At 0628 the first wave, led by 820s squadron commander Lt.Cdr. Guy Beauchamp Hodgkinson, DSO, MiD, RN, commenced a diving attack from 7,000 in line-astern formation from seaward and out of the first light of the rising sun, obtaining complete surprise. Of the six torpedoes dropped, the first was seen to hit, glance off, and run up against the jetty where it exploded. The second was seen running towards the starboard side abreast the bridge and resulted in an explosion. Unknown to the attackers, however, the torpedo had actually exploded under the stern of the trawler Terre Neuve tied up to starboard of the battlecruiser, loading coffins of casualties from the 3 July attack.

The explosion shattered the trawler completely and the hulk sank to the shallow bottom. The third missed and exploded ashore, while the last three were all seen to be running true and were believed to have hit as well, though in actuality none exploded. All six aircraft returned safely.

At 0647 Captain Alan Charles Newson, RM, having obtained a position up sun at 2,000, led the second wave down in line astern formation in the face of heavy AA fire, coming in from over the breakwater. Unknowingly, Capt. Newsons master switch did not complete the firing circuit and he was unable to release his kipper. The second and third were seen to run up to the Dunkerques starboard side, causing a large explosion" that caused a great column of smoke and spray to rise to a height of 600. What had actually happened, however, was that the second torpedo fired had actually hit the sunken stern section of Terre Neuve, detonating some 28 depth chares she had been carrying. The resulting explosion close aboard devastated a 40 section of Dunkerques her hull and caused sever damage to her engine foundations as well as other shock damage. No enemy aircraft were encountered, and all nine aircraft returned safely.

Lt. David Frederick Godfrey-Faussett, RNs third wave, although launched much later, followed hot on the tail of the second wave, diving down from 4,000 at 0650. This sub-flight chose a much different approach, circling over Mers-el-Kebir town and then attacking across the harbour from the SSE, setting up a good attack angle from Dunkerques port quarter. AA fire was light, principally from the battleship Provence,. The aircrews observed the first torpedo hit her port side amidships but did not exploded, while the second was believed to have hit, as an explosion was seen. The fate of the third torpedo was not observed as all three Swordfish were coming under attack by French fighters.. In fact, the second torpedo had hit another unseen vessel lying some 70 yards to port of Dunkerque, the tug Esterel, disintegrating it. The other torpedoes did, in fact, hit the battlecruiser, but both failed to explode. [As an aside, these two torpedoes, plus another from the first attack, were returned to the Royal Navy in 1943 after Oran was   liberated and the French forces there rejoined the Allies!]

Fortunately, for Godfrey-Faussetts sub-flight, his escorting fighters from 803 Squadrons Blue and Red sections quickly engaged the French Hawk 75 and Morane 406 fighters, engaging then in a series of dogfights all the way from Oran to the Fleet. Although all nine aircraft got back to the fleet, one damaged Skua, A7R, was forced to land in the sea at 0700, the crew being rescued by an escorting destroyer, HMS Vidette.

Thus ended the British efforts to subdue the French Squadron in Oran.