The Béarn-class aircraft carriers were a pair of semi-experimental aircraft carriers in the French Navy from the 1920s to the early 1950s. They were the only aircraft carriers produced by France until after World War II, and the only ship of its class built. Ther were to be an experimental ship and would have been replaced in the 1930s by two new ships of the Joffre-class. They were generally comparable to other early carriers developed by the major navies of the world. However, France did not produce a further replacement and as naval aviation lagged in France, Béarn and Languedoc continued to serve past her time of obsolescence. In 1939, she ended her career as an experimental ship, doing anti-submarine patrols in the North Atlantic. In 1944, both ships went to Canada for a major overhaul which took until March 1945 to complete. They would be replaced in the early 1950s by the newer Arromanches-class aircraft carriers.
Specifications[]
- Type: Experimental Aircraft Carrier
- Service Period: 1927-1953
- Characteristics:
- Length: 650 feet (198.12 meters)
- Beam: 115 feet 6 inches (35.2 meters)
- Draft: 30 feet 6 inches (9.3 meters)
- Displacement 24,030 tons (Standard); 30,815 tons (Full Load)
- Crew: 940
- Propulsion: 6 x boilers, 4 x geared steam turbines, 4 x shafts, 118,000 shp
- Range: 7,560 nautical miles (14,000 kilometers) at 12 knots (22.22 km/h)
- Speed: 31.5 knots (58.34 km/h)
- Armament (Original):
- 8 × 155mm/5-caliber Modele 1920 guns (8x1)
- 6 × 75mm/50-caliber Modele 1927 anti-aircraft guns (6x1)
- 8 × 37mm/50-caliber CAIL Model 1933 anti-aircraft guns (added 1935)
- 16 × 13.2mm/76-caliber Hotchkiss anti-aircraft machine guns (16x1) (added 1935)
- 4 × 22" torpedo tubes
- Armament (1944 Refit):
- 4 × QF 4.7"/45-caliber Mk.XII dual-purpose guns
- 24 × Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns (6x4)
- 26 × Oerlikon 20mm anti-aircraft autocannons (13x2)
- Aircraft Carried: 40-50 aircraft
Unit Run[]
- MN Béarn
- MN Languedoc