French aircraft carrier Béarn
 The Béarn
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Namesake | Béarn |
| Builder | La Seyne |
| Laid down | 10 January 1914 |
| Launched | April 1920 |
| Commissioned | May 1927 |
| Stricken | 21 March 1967 |
| Fate | scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Unique Aircraft carrier |
| Displacement | list error: <br /> list (help) 22,146 tons (standard) 28,400 tons (loaded) |
| Length | 182.6 metres (overall) |
| Beam | 35.2 metres |
| Draught | 9.3 metres |
| Propulsion | 2-shaft Parsons geared turbines, 2-shaft reciprocating, 36,200 shp |
| Speed | 21.5 knots[1] |
| Complement | 865 |
| Armament | list error: <br /> list (help) original:
after 1944 refit:
|
| Aircraft carried | 35-40[1] |
The Béarn was a unique aircraft carrier which served with France into World War II.
The Béarn was commissioned in 1927 and was the only aircraft carrier produced by France until after World War II. She was to be an experimental ship and should have been replaced in the 1930s by two new ships of the Joffre class. She was 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 continued to serve past her time of obsolescence. In 1939, she ended her career as an experimental ship and saw limited service during the war as an aircraft transport. She was named after the historic French province of Béarn.
Description
The Béarn was a conversion of a Normandie-class battleship hull, converted during 1923-1927.[2] The design resulted in a big but rather slow vessel. Her role of experimental ship led her to embark experimental planes, with limited efficiency and without group tactics. Unfortunately, with no replacement, Béarn was forced to serve in an operational role for more than a decade. Obsolescence limited her use, during World War II, to an aircraft transport moving aircraft from the United States to the European Theatre.
Béarn was also originally conceived of as part of a plan to also produce an aviation battlecruiser with eight 300 mm main guns and a small catapult-equipped deck for handling eight aircraft. This plan was dropped in favor of a more conventional battlecruiser, leading to the Dunkerque-class. With the approaching obsolescence of the Duquesne-class heavy cruisers, there were plans drafted to convert them into carriers, possibly with retention of an 8 inch gun turret as a hybrid design. Like other design work on hybrids, this never went past the planning stage, and the only credible replacement for Béarn was actually begun when the Joffre-class aircraft carrier was laid down. This project was not completed, however, and Béarn served as France's solitary carrier until delivery of a British escort carrier, HMS Biter, in 1945, which served as the Dixmude with France.
The Béarn had a single island on the starboard side which incorporated the ship's large funnel.[1]
Service
On the 20 October 1920, Paul Teste landed on the Béarn, achieveing the first aeronaval landing in the history of the French Navy.
Shortly after the declaration of World War II in 1939, Béarn was deemed too slow for fleet service, and was relegated to aircraft transportation duty. She was also used for training as French navy crews flying the Vought Vindicators practised carrier operations on her deck, though they were based ashore.
During the German invasion of France in 1940, Béarn was dispatched to the United States to ferry new aircraft which had been ordered from that country, including Curtiss H-75s, SBC Helldivers but also Brewster Buffaloes intended for the Belgian Air Component. Before these aircraft could reach their destination, the armistice with Germany was signed, and the Béarn instead sought harbour in Martinique. She was one of a number of French ships that were effectively interned at Martinique, at United States insistence, to prevent their use by Germany.
After German occupation of Vichy France (Case Anton), Béarn was one of several French ships that re-joined the Allies. She was, however, too obsolete to participate in the naval operations of the French fleet. Instead, in 1943/44, she resumed her previous role as an aircraft transport, a valuable role for the Allied war effort.
This role was continued after the war, as part of the French attempt to recover their possessions in Indochina.[1]
From 1948, she served as a training ship and then as a submarine depot ship. Béarn was scrapped in Italy in 1967.
References
- ^ a b c d Ireland, Bernard (2007). Aircraft carries of the world. Southwater. pp. pp.124. ISBN 9781844763634.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ ["http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/normandie_class.htm" ""www.battleship-cruisers.co.uk""]. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
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