Churchill authorised a plan – codenamed "Operation Catapult" – for a British naval formation (Force H) based in Gibraltar to sail to the harbor of Mers-el-Kébir, near Oran, in Algeria. Four capital ships and other vessels were stationed at Mers-el-Kebir, Force H was to persuade Admiral Marcel-Bruno Gensoul to disobey orders from Vichy and take his vessels out of the war in Europe; by sailing to British ports or to French colonies in the Far East or even to the (still neutral) United States. The overture was soundly rejected, so Royal Navy Admiral James Somerville gave the orders to destroy the French vessels. 1,297 French sailors died in the attack and one French battleship was sunk and two others severely damaged. The incident discredited the British in French eyes and gave the Germans a propaganda tool, depicting the British as France's real enemies. On July 18, the French air force half-heartedly bombed Gibraltar in response to the attack on the French Fleet. The bombing did little damage but caused the first casualties.