Notable Point · 52:16-55:29

What two Béarns might have changed before the Second World War

The closing counterfactual asks how two faster Normandie-class carrier conversions might have changed French and Italian naval aviation before the Second World War.

Notes

The closing counterfactual considers two Normandie-class hulls converted into Béarn-like carriers. Together they would have used about 45,000 of France's 60,000 tons of treaty carrier allowance, leaving roughly 15,000 tons for another small carrier. Earlier completion might also have preserved all-turbine machinery and produced ships capable of about 24 knots instead of Béarn's historical 21.5 knots. France might then have deployed carriers more widely, perhaps to the Far East and Caribbean, while Italy faced greater pressure to build one of its own. The scenario also asks how this would affect later Joffre-class plans, Commandant Teste, and relations between the Regia Marina and Regia Aeronautica before the war.