World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbasePierre Emile Marie Johannes Barjot joined the French Navy in 1918. After serving in Toulon, France and in Asia, he studied at the School of Underwater Navigation in Toulon in 1924, and was subsequently posted to the Cherbourg Naval Base in northern France. In 1929, was given command of submarine Dauphin; later in the same year, he became the commanding officer of submarine Naïade. After completing studies at the naval war college, he was made the commanding officer of submarine Bévéziers in 1935. In 1937, at the rank of lieutenant commander, he was named the commanding officer of submarine Agosta. After the French surrender, he was posted to Marseille in southern France to oversee merchant shipping in the area; while in Marseille, he made contact with a local resistance group. In Aug 1941, he was made the executive officer of battleship Richelieu. In 1942, he was dismissed from the French Navy after the Vichy French internal security services arrested him of being disloyal. Released from imprisonment, he retired from the French Navy and moved to Algeria. In Oct 1942, he participated the Cherchell Conference during which US Major General Mark Clark secretly met with a Vichy French delegation headed by Charles Mast and secured French non-resistance during the upcoming Operation Torch invasion. He was made a captain in the Free French Navy in Nov 1943. In Aug 1944, he was appointed the deputy chief of staff for national defense. In May 1945, he was promoted to the rank of counter admiral. After the war, he served as the commander of naval forces in French Morocco between Dec 1946 and Oct 1948. He was promoted to the rank of vice admiral in Jan 1951 and was named the commanding officer of naval forces in Tunisia. After overseeing the French fleet in the Indian Ocean, he commanded a naval squadron at Toulon. In 1955, he served as a member of the Supreme Maritime Council. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, he commanded all French forces in the conflict. Between 1957 and 1958, he served as the prefect of Toulon. In late 1958, he was made the naval adjutant to Supreme Allied Commander in Europe General Lauris Norstad of the United States. Shortly after, he was promoted to the rank of admiral. He passed away in Paris, France on 1 Feb 1960.

Pierre Barjot Timeline