France had only Bearn from which to build internal carrier expertise, and the ship could not generate enough repeated operational experience to sustain the capability. The incomplete Normandie-class battleship conversion combined turbines on two shafts with triple-expansion engines on the other two, an arrangement intended to balance speed and endurance. Its resulting 21.5-knot maximum was already inadequate when the carrier commissioned in 1927. The long, unstable design process made Bearn a poor foundation for confidence in carrier operations. Changing decisions produced a limited ship, which then weakened the institutional momentum behind further development.
Notable Point · 12:27-14:45
Bearn and lost carrier momentum
Bearn becomes both symptom and cause: a slow conversion that could not generate the carrier-operating knowledge needed to make naval aviation self-reinforcing.