" ..The Catapult operation thus seems particularly useless, especially when it is a question of opening fire on the allies of the day before! "

....as you state Churchill agreed to let the French seek a separate armistice with the German invader - but only on condition that the French fleet sailed for British ports...lets be clear - ..armistice with the German invader meant that "France" was no longer in our camp, no longer a friend...even some enlightened French men realised that, notably de Gaulle..

it was a crazy situation ..but French actions - and Darlan's "political" ambitions and support for Petain - made it even more so...the Vichy Air force fought against the British and the Americans in North Africa even as we were liberating them, so its not hard to see what lay behind Churchill's thinking...the French Navy had to be put out of commission..