France was unusual among the interwar carrier powers in operating only one carrier. Around the Mediterranean, its many land bases could put more reconnaissance and strike aircraft into a predictable theatre than Béarn could carry. Those bases could not move with a task force. A carrier's strongest case there was mobile fighter protection, whose importance would grow later.
Chapter · 3:16-5:10
One carrier in a Mediterranean of air bases
French naval aviation had to justify a single carrier even though Mediterranean land bases could cover much reconnaissance and strike work.