Emile Bertin was named for a naval architect strongly associated with Jeune Ecole thinking and served as a fast leader for large destroyers. Carrier aircraft fit the same idea of inexpensive systems threatening expensive capital units. An early carrier program might also have exercised large-ship yards more usefully than assigning them light-cruiser work. Building a carrier would have tested slipway size, facilities, and expansion needs before France committed to later capital ships.
Notable Point · 55:18-58:06
Emile Bertin and the missed carrier logic of Jeune Ecole
The cruiser Emile Bertin embodied the Jeune Ecole legacy, yet aircraft carriers arguably offered the movement's cost-offset logic in a more powerful form.