The war was truly going badly for UK at the time, with US still not joining the war. And those French naval vessels HAD to be take out of the war somehow. The R

The war was truly going badly for UK at the time, with US still not joining the war. And those French naval vessels HAD to be take out of the war somehow. The Royal Navy was mighty, but stretched very thin. Had the French naval vessels been seized by the Germans somehow to be used in WW2 actively, it certainly would've meant Germans/Italians completely denying the UK ships from reaching Middle East via Mediterranean. This would effectively mean no more supply of oil, meaning UK would've lost the war. The local French admiral had been warned to surrender/scuttle the ships but he refused on account of his honor.