"Bayan" has been in service for 40 years without actual combatrecords.

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In August 1914, the outbreak of World War I severely damaged the FrenchNavy. Due to the need to accumulate a large amount of resources to the WarDepartment, the semi-finished products moored on the berth suffered one afteranother. Most of them were supposed to be new naval forces, but remaineduntil the end of the war, and then brutally disbanded and directly dismembered. However,bears are a special case. The technological innovations that changed theera gave her the opportunity to serve the French army for 40 years in a veryawkward way.

Belem's prototype was a Normandy-class battleship. According to the originalplan, the

modified aircraft carrier Baiyun

belongs to the Normandy class warship. In 1919, the French Navy completedthe first test of the carrier-based takeoff and decided to convert the emptyship into an aircraft carrier. According to the planned route set at thesame time, Bearn will be more used as a verification platform for navalaviation, laying a practical foundation for future professional design. Asa result, the long construction period was postponed to 1927, when the FrenchNavy finally gained its own aircraft carrier strength.

In 1919, the French Navy's first aircraft launched from the ship

Bayan was recovering carrier-based aircraft in the late 1920s

as the first-generation aircraft carrier in the mid-career period. Like manysimilar aircraft carriers, the Berne has "congenital defects"". Since the original design was based entirely on early 20th centurystandards, her speed was always limited to 27 knots. The need for frequentacceleration is not enough to help the plane take off. With thedevelopment of aviation technology, the weight and volume of fighter jets arealso increasing rapidly, making this defect increasingly serious. Becauseof this background, the original standard of 40 fully loaded vehicles wasquickly reduced to 30, and to 20 before World War II. This is also"shameful" for a fleet carrier with a full-load displacement of28,400 tons.

Technological shortcomings have allowed Bern to use vintage aircraft.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Berne carried 12 torpedo bombers, 12reconnaissance aircraft and 8 fighter jets. This also reflects the commonconcept of the European Navy at that time. In other words, most of theaircraft carrier's active areas are within the radiation range of land-basedairports, and it is very rare to encounter equivalent opponents on the highseas. Therefore, the biggest task of an aircraft carrier is to find andattack enemy ships. After this mission, the air defense capability wasmainly to expel a small number of enemy aircraft. Once an enemy approachesits opponent's coast, it cannot escape the protection of its own airforce. At that time, the French Navy would not have thought that due tothe long-term reduction of defense funding, the real aircraft carrier itexpected would never be in service. The technical limitations of the Bernealso make it difficult to replace it with better new carrier-based aircraft.

Wilbur 10 fighter jet landed in Berne

's training in the 1930s with Weber 74 torpedo bomber.

In 1939, the shadow of war enveloped Western Europe. The French army, likea dream, began to steadily strengthen its military equipment. Since thecountry's new aircraft could not even meet Air Force orders, they had to buyfrom the over-produced United States. As a result, in addition to the oldWilbur 10 fighter and Wilbur 74 torpedo bomber, the Berne began to deploy theUS SB2U dive bomber. However, when the pilot had just completed initialtake-off and landing training, the war began with German invasion ofPoland. The military weighed it again and again and found that the old andslow aircraft carriers could not effectively support the operation of the newdive bombers, so all two squadrons were assigned to the Air Force.

SB2U dive bomber was trained on the eve of World War II. SB2U dive bomber

stored in the hangar.

Therefore, Berne can only rely on the old aircraft in service in the late 1920sto face the upcoming World War II career. Despite criticism of theperformance, the French army moved from Toulon in the Mediterranean to Brest atthe Atlantic Theater because there was no substitute. There, Belem willform a mobile unit with two battleships, three light cruisers and eightdestroyers. Soon after, the German battleship Graf Spier raged in theSouth Atlantic. The Bowen took three cruisers to support the Britishpursuit. Therefore, because the speed is too slow and the performance ofthe aircraft is worrying, it has no effect at all.

In May 1940, the outbreak of the French campaign caught Paris bysurprise. The war soon developed in a direction that was not conducive tothe coalition forces, and the indestructible Bayan was sent to execute theembarrassing sinking plan. Beginning with Toulon, she transported a largeamount of treasury bullion to Canada for storage. After unloading at thePort of Halifax, 27 P36 fighters purchased by the Air Force, 6 Buffalo fighterspurchased by the Belgian Air Force, and SBC dive bombers purchased by the Navyand Air Force must be transported simultaneously. The destination of theseimportant weapons was the local Brest. If lucky, the Berne will alsoupdate its carrier fleet.

The Belgian Air Force buffalo fighter parked on the deck of the Berne. The

P36 fighter jet purchased by the French Air Force before World War II.

Unfortunately, General Petain had signed a ceasefire agreement. Theaircraft carrier was carrying a large number of aircraft and was trapped in theFrench island of Martinique in the Caribbean Sea. Because the crew did notwant to join the British army to fight, and were more emotionally inclined tothe Vichy government and resisted free France, the US government demanded thatit stay on the island. In the end, the aircraft, which could not beaccepted by the buyer, was destroyed by the sea wind on the island. U.S.intelligence services also sent agents to the island to destroy key componentsof the aircraft to prevent the French from taking refuge in the Axis.

Subsequent generations used the SBC dive bomber to draw an imagined map ofBayan.

Anti-aircraft artillery was converted in 1945 in

May 1942, and the war against the Allies continued to develop. Underpressure, the United States handed over the stranded Bayan and two escortcruisers to France. But the latter was also unable to drive the crew towar. As a result, Belems continued to live on the island for twoyears. It was not until 1944 that the situation eased considerably and theold ship was able to sail to New York and begin modernization. In additionto renewing anti-aircraft firepower, her main remaining mission was classifiedas aircraft transportation.

After the Second World War, Belem became a pure transport ship.

Japanese seaplanes were temporarily used on the Indian Weaver.

The last actual deployment of the Bern was after the end of World WarII. In October 1945, she joined the Navy formation to reinforce FrenchIndochina, and was responsible for transporting troops and amphibious landingcraft to regain control of the local army. In December, the symbolicoperation, which was much larger than it actually was, ended, and the Belemcontinued to stay there for a while. During this period, in order toconduct non-combat operations such as reconnaissance, the crew discovered aseaplane left by the Japanese occupying forces, creating a very strange scene.

The Bayanites who returned home were basically reduced to half.

At the end of her career, Bern was a floating quarters for submarine sailors.

At that time, the French navy leased newly retired aircraft carriers from theUnited States and Britain, and Bern's role and status would no longerexist. Upon returning from India Day, she became a submarine quarters inToulon. The only bright spot was in the early days of helicoptertechnology, which was used as a temporary platform for navalexperiments. It was not until May 1967 that the Belem was sold to anItalian ship recycling company and was removed from the register by the FrenchNavy. So far, the 40-year-old ship has officially died.

The French Navy has tested helicopter take-off and landing technology

helicopters in Bayern to provide comprehensive services for theflight deck before dismantling.

During its long service, France was involved in the North African insurgency,World War II, the Korean War, the Independence War in India, the Suez CanalWar, and several colonial disputes. However, the Berne never had theopportunity to participate in real combat, and there was no record ofcarrier-based aircraft taking off or landing in actual combat. Therefore,many people today count this original fleet aircraft carrier as an escortaircraft carrier.

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