The armistice specified that "Strasbourg" and the rest of the French fleet would be demilitarized, and she and several other battleships were stationed in Mers-el-Kébir at the time. Mistakenly under the impression that the Germans sought to seize the ships, the British Force H was sent to either force the ships to continue fighting or to destroy them. When the French refused the ultimatum, the British opened fire, but "Strasbourg" evaded the British and escaped to Toulon. There, she served as the flagship of the newly-established "Forces de haute mer" until the Germans attempted to seize the fleet during Case Anton, leading to its destruction in the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon in November 1942. The wreck was later seized by the Italians, who raised "Strasbourg" and then started dismantling the ship, and was later taken by the Germans. The vessel was later bombed and sunk a second time by American bombers in August 1944, and was ultimately sold for scrap in 1955.