Béarn as France's early carrier experiment

What was the French carrier Béarn, and how capable was she?

She was an important early carrier experiment, but France's plans for successors show that she was not considered a satisfactory fleet design.

The exchange presents Béarn as one of the world's early proper aircraft carriers, although her reputation prompts a joke that the French tried to make observers forget she existed. The conversion still gave France practical experience with carrier aviation. France planned follow-on ships and studied twin-engine aircraft for carrier use, showing that its ambitions extended beyond this single hull. Béarn therefore offers a useful starting point for understanding early experimentation and the demand for better French carrier designs.