Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

France's first and only prewar carrier, converted from a incomplete NORMANDIE class battleship. Post WW1 the French decided this class needed to much REwork to bring them up to current standards. Therefore, along with the First naval treaty, they were scrapped except for BEARN. She was completed as a carrier, but even compared to the three RN conversions she lagged in combat capabilities.

Basically used as a aircraft transport by WW2. As is typical of numerous French units, she survived a long time! DFO

Perhaps it was not seen as a combatant worthy of sinking , just a thought .

Post war the French Navy obtained 1 RN cvl and 2 X-USN cvls. Their first 2 CVs that were modern, French designed and built were the FOCH and CLEMENCEAU. While far smaller than the huge USN FORRESTALs they were a fine, effective design given their size. No other Western navy completed anything that was comparable during the postwar years.

Specs (from Wiki):

"Class and type: Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier
Displacement: 24,200 t (23,818 long tons) standard
32,800 t (32,282 long tons) full load

Length: 265 m (869 ft 5 in)
Beam: 51.2 m (168 ft 0 in)
Draught: 8.6 m (28 ft 3 in)
Propulsion: 6 × Indret boilers
4 × steam turbines 126,000 hp (94 MW)
2 shafts

Speed: 32 knots (37 mph; 59 km/h)
Range: 7,500 nmi (13,900 km) at 18 kn (21 mph; 33 km/h)
Complement: 1,338 men, including 64 officers (1,920 men including the air group. 984 men if only helicopters are carried.)
Sensors and
processing systems: 1 × DRBV-23B air search radar
1 × DRBV-50 low-altitude or surface search radar (later replaced by a DRBV-15)
1 × NRBA-50 approach radar
1 × DRBI-10 tri-dimensional air search radar
Several DRBC-31 fire-control radar (later DRBC-32C)
DRBN-34 navigation radars

Armament: 8 × 100 mm turrets (originally) ; in the 90s, 4 are replaced by 2 × SACP Crotale EDIR systems, with 52 missiles
5 × 12.7 mm machine guns • 2 × Sadral launchers for 6 Mistral missiles each (added in 1994).

Aircraft carried: About 40 aircraft:
15 × Super Étendard
4 × Étendard IVP
10 × F-8E (FN) Crusader
6 × Alizé
2 × Dauphin Pedro helicopters
2 × Super Frelon helicopters"

The growth of modern aircraft, even by the 1950s, was reflected in the relatively small size of their air group compared to WW2 aircraft complements. Unlike the BEARN, these two were handsome looking, useful carriers! DFO

Well done Dennis , an excellent breakdown of information accompanied by excellent photo's

FS Bearn...She was originally designed as a Normandie Class Battleship; she was laid down at the Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée Shipyard in La Seyne on January 10th 1914. The outbreak of World War I in August 1914 interrupted work, which was halted for the duration of the conflict.By that time, work on Béarn had not significantly progressed: her hull was only 8–10 percent complete and her engines were only 25 percent finished. Her boilers were 17 percent assembled, and her turrets were at 20 percent completed.The incomplete hull was launched in April 1920 to clear the slipway, though the Navy had not yet decided what to do with her.
That year, a French delegation visited the British Aircraft Carrier HMS Argus, and out of this visit came the proposal to convert Béarn into an Aircraft Carrier, which was designated Project 171.On April 18th 1922, the Navy determined that Béarn would be completed as an Aircraft Carrier.Her four sisters, which were at further stages of completion, were instead broken up for scrap. Much of the material from breaking up these ships was used to complete Béarn and several Cruisers also ordered in 1922.Conversion work began in August 1923, and lasted until May 1927.
She was to be an experimental ship, and was slated for replacement in the 1930s by two new ships of the Joffre Class. She was generally comparable to other early Carriers developed by the major navies of the world. However, France did not produce a further replacement and as naval aviation lagged in France, Béarn continued to serve past her time of obsolescence. In 1939, she ended her career as an experimental ship, but after the defeat of France in June 1940 she was docked at Martinique, where she remained for the next four years. Eventually she was sent to the United States for a refit, which ended in March 1945, allowing her to serve briefly before the end of the war as an Aircraft Transport. She was dismantled in 1967.

She had unique elevator "doors"! Definitely a one off that never really saw combat, despite her long life........ DFO

Some views of BEARN from Feb., '41.............. Certainly a UNGAINLY conversion, but interesting. DFO

French Carrier Béarn pictured c1945..She was converted from an incomplete Normandie Class Battleship for the Marine Nationale during the 1920s. Entering service in 1928, the navy intended to use her to develop tactics and techniques for carrier aviation. The only aircraft carrier France produced until after World War II, the ship played a minor role in early stages of the war, training in home waters and conducting pilot training...In late May 1940 Béarn ferried gold to purchase aircraft from the United States, but she was diverted to Martinique in the French West Indies when the French armistice with Germany was signed in June. Under pressure from the United States, which was worried about the Germans taking control of her if she returned to France, the carrier remained there for the next four years. To placate the Americans the local commander agreed to have her immobilized in mid-1942. The Vichy French government ordered him to sabotage the ship in May 1943 and he ultimately complied by having Béarn run aground..She was towed to Puerto Rico after the islands joined the Free French later that year for preliminary repairs that would allow her to steam under her own power to New Orleans, Louisiana, to be converted into an aircraft ferry. The conversion was completed in early 1945; on her first trip with a load of aircraft she collided with another ship and had to divert to French Morocco for emergency repairs. Full repairs took almost six months and she then transported personnel and equipment between Metropolitan France and French North Africa for several months.In October the ship sailed for French Indochina with aircraft, material and supplies as the French planned to reassert control over their Japanese-occupied colony. Béarn remained there for a year before returning home where she was immediately placed in reserve. Two years later, the ship was reactivated as the flagship of the Marine Nationale's Submarine and Anti-Submarine Group and also served as a Submarine Tender. In 1960 Béarn was hulked and served as a Barracks Ship until she became so uneconomical that a building was constructed to replace her in 1966. She was sold for scrap the following year.

French Carrier Béarn pictured in Colombo Harbour, Ceylon in October 1945.

MN Béarn – France's First, Underwhelming, Aircraft Carrier

Also known as 'I butcher the French language'.

France's first attempt at an aircraft carrier, the unfortunate Béarn, is often looked at as one of the worst examples of this type. If not the worst example, depending on who you ask.

In fairness, this was a deeply flawed design. From the keel up. *Also*, in fairness, it was France's first attempt. USS Langley wasn't particularly spectacular, either.

The issue for France was simply that they never finished another ship, before WW2. So they went into that war with an outdated, flawed ship as their only carrier. With predictable results, even ignoring the whole 'Vichy situation'. Still, Béarn would have a surprisingly long career, in the end. Not a bad legacy at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0OjHp4y7-c - LFT