Poster profile air carrier Béarn

The Béarn was the first and only aircraft carrier in service in the French Navy until 1945, when the Dixmude was also put under the French flag.

Béarn was originally designed as the fifth unit of the Normandie-class, a class of dreadnought battleships, but construction was never completed until World War I. After the war, only Béarn was transformed into an aircraft carrier, the other hulls remaining unfinished.

Initially, the name "Vendée" had been considered for the ship. However, after a visit to the United Kingdom where HMS Argus, a former ocean liner converted into an aircraft carrier, impressed French officers, the decision was made to transform Béarn's unfinished hull into an aircraft carrier.

The Béarn was launched on April 15, 1920 and underwent several transformations to become a squadron aircraft carrier in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty. However, due to budgetary constraints, only limited developments were made, including the construction of a hangar and flight deck.

The ship was commissioned on 1 May 1928 and was involved in various operational activities, including exercises and reconnaissance missions. He was also involved in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.

During World War II, Béarn was used to transport gold from the Bank of France as well as planes purchased in the United States to France. After the armistice of 1940, it was diverted to the Antilles and demilitarized in accordance with the neutrality of the Vichy regime. Returning to service under the Free French Naval Forces, it was transformed into an aircraft transport in the United States and continued to serve after the war, notably participating in the transport of aviation for the French Expeditionary Force in Indochina.

Béarn was finally withdrawn from service in 1967 and sold to Italian shipbreakers. Its aviation facilities included a flight deck, two stacked hangars, three axial elevators, five arresting strands and a lifting system, as well as an aviation fuel capacity of 115,856 liters of aviation gasoline.