German and Italian carrier thinking paid surprising attention to the French model despite Bearn's operational weaknesses. Joffre and Painleve were intended to carry forward similar aircraft-handling ideas at a much larger and more modern scale. Had either ship entered service, the French might have demonstrated that experience with Bearn could produce a capable system, or discovered that the arrangement became obstructive when scaled up. Their cancellation means the postwar French Navy instead adopted broadly Anglo-American practices, leaving this interwar design path untested.
Notable Point · 17:27-20:37
Bearn and Joffre test French aircraft-handling ideas
The unfinished Joffre class leaves open whether France could have turned Bearn's awkward experimental arrangements into a workable modern carrier system.