Naval Battle of Casablanca

Naval Battle of Casablanca
Part of Operation Torch of World War II
Jean Bart at Casablanca under attack by aircraft from USS Ranger.
Date 8–16 November 1942 Location off Casablanca, French Morocco, Atlantic Ocean Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	Vichy France  Nazi Germany
Commanders and leaders
Henry Kent Hewitt	Félix Michelier Ernst Kals
Strength
1 aircraft carrier 1 escort carrier 1 battleship 3 heavy cruisers 1 light cruiser 14 destroyers 15 troopships 347 landing craft unknown aircraft	Vichy France: 1 battleship (partially armed) 1 light cruiser 2 flotilla leaders 7 destroyers 8 sloops 11 minesweepers 11 submarines unknown aircraft unknown shore batteries Germany: ~2 submarines unknown aircraft
Casualties and losses
4 troopships sunk ~150 landing craft sunk 4–5 aircraft destroyed 1 battleship damaged 1 heavy cruiser damaged 2 destroyers damaged 1 oiler damaged ~174 killed unknown wounded	1 battleship sunk 1 light cruiser grounded and burnt out for total loss 4 destroyers sunk 5 submarines sunk 7 aircraft destroyed shore batteries destroyed 1 battleship damaged unknown destroyers damaged 2 submarines damaged 1 destroyer grounded 2 flotilla leaders grounded 1 submarine grounded ~462 killed ~200 wounded 1 submarine sunk unknown human losses
Ten French freighters and liners were sunk during the battle. The French submarine La Sybille was lost at sea during the battle. The French submarine Le Tonnant was scuttled off Cadiz as result of battle damage.

 Vichy France

Félix Michelier

Vichy France:
1 battleship (partially armed)
1 light cruiser
2 flotilla leaders
7 destroyers
8 sloops
11 minesweepers
11 submarines
unknown aircraft
unknown shore batteries

1 battleship sunk
1 light cruiser grounded and burnt out for total loss
4 destroyers sunk
5 submarines sunk
7 aircraft destroyed
shore batteries destroyed
1 battleship damaged
unknown destroyers damaged
2 submarines damaged
1 destroyer grounded
2 flotilla leaders grounded
1 submarine grounded
~462 killed
~200 wounded

The Naval Battle of Casablanca was a series of naval engagements fought between American ships covering the invasion of North Africa and Vichy French ships defending the neutrality of French Morocco in accordance with the Second Armistice at Compiègne during World War II. The last stages of the battle consisted of operations by German U-boats which had reached the area the same day the French troops surrendered. Allied military planners anticipated an all-American force assigned to seize the Atlantic port city of Casablanca might be greeted as liberators. An invasion task force of 102 American ships carrying 35,000 American soldiers approached the Moroccan coast undetected under cover of darkness. French defenders interpreted the first contacts as a diversionary raid for a major landing in Algeria; and regarded the surrender of six Moroccan divisions to a small commando raiding force as a clear violation of French obligations to defend Moroccan neutrality under the Second Armistice at Compiègne. An escalating series of surprised responses in an atmosphere of mistrust and secrecy caused the loss of four U.S. troopships and the deaths of 462 men aboard 24 French ships opposing the invasion.

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