"L'Audacieux" was one of the escorts for "Strasbourg" and her sister as the reassembled at Mers-el-Kébir, French Algeria, in late April 1940 in an effort to intimidate the Italians from entering the war.She took part in a sortie by the into the Western Mediterranean on 12–13 June, after Italy declared war on the Allies on the 10th.