Why Béarn was a difficult carrier conversion

If you replaced Béarn's designer and presented your own plans, what would you propose?

Either extensively redesign the carrier conversion with all-turbine power and standardized lifts, or complete the ship as a Normandie-class battleship and build a separate carrier later.

A workable Béarn carrier conversion would require all-turbine machinery and two standardized lifts in place of three different ones. Simplifying the aircraft-handling system would remove complication that offered no useful advantage. These changes amount to a substantial reworking of the ship. An alternative is to complete Béarn as the only finished Normandie-class battleship and build a separate carrier later, preserving a capital ship that France could use.