An Italian interwar carrier force

Could Italy keep two Cavours, two Dorias, and three Caracciolos while converting a fourth Caracciolo into a 30,000-ton carrier and building two 15,000-ton carriers?

The proposed force would provoke a French response, probably based on completing or redesigning Normandie hulls, and reopen wider treaty questions.

The proposed Italian fleet combines seven capital ships with a large converted carrier and two smaller carriers. A Caracciolo conversion could follow HMS Eagle's arrangement through Italian cooperation with Britain. France would then need an early answer, with completing or redesigning existing Normandie hulls offered as the most practical route to three capital ships. That choice could also keep Béarn from becoming a carrier. The comparison favors Caracciolo's eight guns and established turret arrangement over Normandie's twelve guns in France's first operational quadruple turrets, where teething problems are expected. France's mixed turbine and reciprocating-engine arrangement is another feature proposed for revision.