French cruiser Georges Leygues The Georges Leygues was a French light cruiser of the " La Galissonnière " class . During World War II , she served with both the Vichy France and Allies . She was named for the prominent 19th and 20th century French politician Georges Leygues . At the start of World War II , she was assigned to the " Force de Raid " , patrolling the Atlantic in response to German commerce raids . The only incident , however , was when the French submarine " Casabianca " was shelled in error . To pre - empt the potential Italian threat , " Georges Leygues " and other French warships were moved to Mers - el - Kebir ( now Oran ) on 24 April 1940 . The 3rd and 4th Cruiser Divisions , including " Georges Leygues " avoided the destruction of the French Fleet at Mers - el - Kebir and eventually put into Toulon . On 9 September 1940 , she left Toulon with her sister ships " Gloire " and " Montcalm " , and passed Gibraltar without being challenged ( for which the local British commander , Admiral North , was relieved of his command ) . The flotilla refuelled at Casablanca and continued to Dakar , arriving on 14 September . The three cruisers left Dakar on 18 September , intending to go south to Libreville , but they were intercepted by British forces , including HMAS " Australia " . The " Montcalm " and " Georges Leygues " outran the British ships and returned to Dakar , where they helped to defend the port against the unsuccessful British and Free French attack ( Operation Menace ) on 23 – 25 September 1940 . " Georges Leygues " hit HMAS " Australia " twice and avoided Fleet Air Arm torpedo attacks . The " Gloire " , slowed by mechanical troubles and , unable to escape , had been ordered back to Casablanca . Apart from a transport of bullion to Casablanca in August 1941 , the next two years were uneventful until the Allied landings in North Africa ( Operation Torch ) and the German occupation of Vichy France , when she joined the Allies , as did other French warships . Early in 1943 , she began Atlantic patrols from Dakar , and on 13 April , she intercepted the German blockade runner " Portland " , which was scuttled by her crew . The " Georges Leygues " was refitted at Philadelphia , from July until October 1943 , removing the aircraft installations and adding light anti - aircraft weapons . " Georges Leygues " ' returned to Dakar based anti - blockade - runner patrols . She then supported Allied landings in Normandy in June 1944 and southern France in August . A French naval tradition says that beyond five months of campaigning , the war flag of a ship gets longer by one metre for each month spent off France ; the war flag of the " Georges Leygues " is said to have been 60 metres when she entered Toulon on 13 September 1944 . She then bombarded the Italian Riviera coastline around Genoa until March 1945 . This was her last action of the war . She had a major refit at Casablanca from May to the end of January 1946 . In 1954 , along with the " Montcalm " , she was used for fire support in Indochina . In 1956 , she took part in the Suez Crisis , during which she led a group of French warships providing fire support for Israeli ground forces in the Gaza Strip .