Bearn
Mark H Horan has very kindly, and patiently, been putting me right about certain "facts" that I had printed on this page which, apparently, were grossly in error, being completely inaccurate. I can only produce what I find, and the suppliers of the information which has now been deleted were apparently in error. What was on this page is now neither here nor there. But for the sake of those who find this page via search engines I will leave it online with some items on the aircraft carrier concerned.
Source: http://www.warships.web4u.cz/lode.php?language=E&stat=FRA&typ=CV&trida=Bearn
Mark H Horan emailed me with the following information:
In June 1940, the Fench port-avions Bearn, along
with the cruiser Emile Bertain (Jeanne d'Arc put into Guadaloupe) had put into
Fort-de-France, Martinigue when France fell. A very pro-Vichy colony, the
ships, remained there until the colony finally joined the Allies in 1943, after
the Torch invasion and the German-Italain takeover of Vichy France.
Bearn sailed, under a new Free Fernch Captain, from Martinique to the
USA for an extensive refit where she was refitted as an aircraft transport. She
was joined in the US by her new permanent Captain, Capitaine de Fregate Henri
Lamy, a Free French officer that had been fighting the Germans since 1940.
On 7 March 1945, Bearn, carrying 88 aircraft as well as
parts and material left , left New York to join Convoy CU-61 (45 ships), sailing
from the USA East Coast to Europe. Bearn was the lead ship
in column 6 of nine, putting her to the immediate starboard of the convoy
commodore. On 13 March, in the mid-Atlantic, NE of the Azores, she suffered a
steering casualty, and suddly veered into hard turn to port. Passing the
starboard quarter of the commodore's ship, she struck the next ship astern of
her in column 5, the SS J. C. McAndrew (1940; 7,997 GRT), carrying 1,974
US Rmy troops, besides her crew. Bearn was steaming at the
convoy speed of 14 knots when she struck the McAndrew about
30 degrees off McAndrew's starboard bow. Both ships were
badly damaged forward. McAndrew had 68 officers and men
killed, while Bearn suffered 4 killed. Both ships had to put into Ponta Delgada,
Azores for temporary repairs, Bearn remaining from 17 to 22
March, then she sailed for Casablanca where she unloaded her cargo and underwent
more permanent repairs. After they were complete, she sailed for Gibraltar in
July.
Sources
"Le Bearn et le Commandant Teste" by Jean Moulin, Lucien Morareau, et Claude
Picard, Marines Editions
"Warship International", 1995, No 4 (Question Section) and 1996, No 4 (Answer
Section)
"Lloyd's Register of Shipping, 1941"
http://www.faasig.org/colors/bismarckattack.htm - Mark Horan
The only aircraft carrier
France had in service at the outbreak of WWII. The image depicts the "Bearn"
as she was in 1938-1939. The "Bearn" had a battleship converted hull, and
many characteristics of the battleship remained in the carrier
http://www.modelshipbuilding.com/french_aircraft_carriers.html
Displacement: 28,400 tons full load
Dimensions: 559 x 89 x 30.5 feet/170.4 x 27 x 9.3 meters
Extreme Dimensions: 599 x 115.5 x 30.5 feet/182.6 x 35 x 9.3 meters
Propulsion: Steam turbines plus reciprocating engines, 6 boilers, 4
shafts, 22,500 shp plus 15,000 ihp, 21.5 knots
Crew: 875
Armor: 3.25 inch belt, 1 inch flight and main decks, 2.75 inch lower deck
Armament: 8 6.1/55m 6 3 inch AA, 8 37 mm AA, 16 MG, 4 21.7 inch TT
Aircraft: 40
Concept/Program: A WWI-era battleship converted to an experimental carrier post war. Designed with British assistance. As in other nations' early carriers, she spent her early years in experimental, trials and development roles and was quickly made obsolete by advancing carrier design.
Design/Conversion: Basic battleship hull retained, but armour greatly reduced. Reboilered, but the original steam/reciprocating plant was retained. Had a single-level hangar, but with repair shops and spare aircraft storage below. Large island sponsored out to starboard. Her elevators were small, oddly shaped and inefficient. Was too slow to serve as an effective fleet unit.
Modifications: The flight deck was rebuilt with a downward slope at the bow soon after completion. Refitted and generally upgraded in 1935.
Operational: Her operational abilities were limited by the poor selection of aircraft available, in addition to her low speed.
Departure from Service/Disposal: Service as a carrier ended with the fall of France in 1940; her only wartime and post war service was as an aircraft transport.
Source: http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/france.htm#bearn
Other Sources & Referrals
http://uboat.net/allies/warships/class.html?ID=275
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aj.cashmore/index.html
http://frenchnavy.free.fr/menus/menu_carriers.htm
http://lonestar.texas.net/~glover/georgefr.html
There are also many many other sites which mention this ex-Normandie class battleship