The better Bearn conversion France did not choose

Were any of the alternative Bearn carrier-conversion designs better than the ship France completed?

Yes; a design retaining the original turbine arrangement and more boilers promised much better speed and avoided some of the completed ship's machinery compromises.

One alternative retains two turbine sets and three boiler rooms, with a speed of about 30 knots suggested as an estimate from the hull and machinery arrangement. The completed conversion instead reduces the planned boiler count from twenty-one to twelve. It combines a central turbine installation with reciprocating engines transferred from another Normandie hull. Casemate six-inch guns and protective coal bunkers add further compromises to the converted ship. Existing contracts and political bargains are offered as the explanation for choosing this arrangement. Whether any retained boilers could burn the protective coal remains uncertain, so its use as emergency fuel is unresolved.