"Gloire" initially stayed loyal to the Vichy French government. Free French Forces’ successes in Chad and Cameroon became politically embarrassing, and so the Axis Naval Commission permitted the despatch of the cruisers and to Dakar as Force Y. After an unchallenged passage past Gibraltar, for which the local British commander was removed, they arrived on 14 September. On 18 September the 4th Cruiser Division sailed for Libreville, French Equatorial Africa. They were intercepted by British forces. "Gloire" suffered machinery problems and was unable to outrun the British flotilla, so she turned back and she was 'escorted' into Casablanca by the Allied cruisers and and was therefore not present during the subsequent British attack on Dakar (Operation "Menace").