the hull toward the stern. Both bombs caused serious fires that were suppressed by 20:00. Extensive flooding led the ship to settle by the stern and submerged the turbo generator room, while shock from the bomb explosions disabled the main diesel generators, leaving the backup diesels as the only source of electrical power. In the course of the engagements with American forces, 22 men had been killed and the same number had been wounded. She had fired just 25 shells from her main battery, but despite the significant damage from the bomb hits on 10 November, her turret remained operational, as were the 90 mm guns, though both batteries were without power. With the Free French French forces in North Africa signed an armistice on 11 November, prompting the Germans to invade the rest of Vichy France, which in turn led François Darlan, the former Chief of Staff of the French Navy, to defect to the Allies with the rest of the fleet. Repair work to make the ship seaworthy had already begun on 11 November, and by 15 February 1943, the outboard turbines were in service and manual steering controls had been repaired. Admiral Raymond Fenard, the head of the French naval mission to the US, requested that the US Navy take the ship to the United States to be repaired and completed, as they had begun to do with Richelieu. Fenard issued a report to the US Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Frederick J. Horne, on 15 April detailing the status of Jean Bart, but Horne replied on 1 May that the ship could not be completed to her original specifications. Five days later, the US Navy agreed that the ship would be taken to the United States in September, which necessitated repairs to the steering motors. The Free French Service Central des Constructions et Armes Navales (Central Naval Technical Department) created two proposals to complete the ship with as few alterations from her current state as possible; both involved replacing the 380 mm guns with guns from the old battleship , since Jean Barts guns were needed to replace the damaged guns aboard Richelieu. The first variant called for the quarterdeck to be modified to carry two large catapults capable of launching American TBF Avenger or British Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers and F6F Hellcat or Supermarine Seafire fighters. The total complement was to be six aircraft.