The Joffre design is described as a practical 18,000-ton standard-displacement carrier capable of about 33.5 knots and carrying roughly 40 aircraft. Its missions varied by theater: deterrence and force multiplication in the Far East, aviation for an Atlantic raider-hunting group, and supplementary strike power in the Mediterranean. French land bases could provide much of the Mediterranean strike effort, so the ship's value was greatest where that network did not reach. A roughly 40-aircraft group was not enormous, but it was a serviceable force for the period and anticipated the scale of later French carriers. The design would have reduced French dependence on allied coverage by restoring an independent global naval capability.
Chapter · 17:39-22:31
The Joffre class and French global reach
France sought a fast 40-aircraft carrier that could deter in the Far East, hunt surface raiders in the Atlantic, and reinforce Mediterranean strike power.