The collapse of Anglo-French maritime planning

Béarn could not keep pace with the carrier forces of the Second World War, although a speed nearer 27 or 28 knots might have made it much more useful. French cruisers still operated aircraft, and the prewar navy formed part of a global maritime trade-protection system planned with Britain. French bases and ships complemented British coverage because neither navy could meet every treaty-constrained commitment alone. France's fall broke that arrangement. British distrust of the new French political authorities then contributed to the Mers-el-Kébir crisis, even though confidence in French sailors remained. Free French forces continued to serve, but France no longer fielded the major conventional naval-aviation force envisaged before the war.