British Navy bombardment of the French Navy at its base at Mers-el-Kébir 3 July 1940

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Mers-el-K%C3%A9bir


Well I didn't know that ...... 

On the 3rd July 1940 a British Naval task force attacked a French Fleet at anchor in its base at Mers-el-Kébir, French Algeria. This was to stop the ships ending up in German hands but resulted in 1,297 french sailors being killed and the French mounting air raids on Gibraltar.

That's enough of a summary, no point me rewriting it all the detail is on the Wiki page