Bearn

Prototype: Béarn was a French aircraft carrier. It served with the Marine nationale (French Navy) in World War II and later. Béarn was commissioned in 1927, and was the only aircraft carrier France produced until after World War II, and the only ship of its class built. She was to be an experimental ship, and was slated for replacement 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, but after the defeat of France in June 1940 she was docked at Martinique, where she remained for the next four years. Eventually she was sent to the United States for a refit, which ended in March 1945, allowing her to serve briefly before the end of the war as an aircraft transport. She was dismantled in 1967. Over the course of her long career, Béarn never launched her aircraft in combat. She was named after the historic French province of Béarn.

Class History: Bearn was an aircraft carrier which served with the Marine nationale (French Navy) in World War II.

Country: France is one of Europe’s largest countries. It is bordered by six countries other nations: Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the southeast and Spain to the southwest. The United Kingdom borders France via the English Channel. The country is considered to be the gateway to Europe as there are several large international airports (two of these can be found in Paris), ferry terminals and the French rail service.

In 486, Frankish tribes unified under Merovingian kingship. In 843, Western Francia was established from the division of the Carolingian Empire. In 1789, the French monarchy was overthrown, and in 1792, the First French Republic was founded. In 1958, the Fifth French Republic was established.