Normandie and Lyon become Mediterranean escorts and bombardment ships

How might completed Normandie- and Lyon-class battleships serve in the Second World War?

As convoy escorts and bombardment ships, especially in the Mediterranean, rather than as primary fast battle-fleet units.

The Normandie and Lyon classes would lack the speed expected of later fleet units. That limitation does not make their armor and heavy batteries irrelevant. Lyon's sixteen 13.4-inch guns could still produce a volume of fire comparable to British heavy battle-line ships. In the Mediterranean the French ships could escort important convoys, support bombardments, and force an opponent to commit a genuinely heavy ship before attacking. Their Second World War role would resemble the British Revenge class: valuable for missions where presence and gun power mattered more than speed.