Only eleven days after the Armistice in November 1918 the Constructors sent the General Staff -.in outline of a project for modifying the Normandie class. The General Staff replied with a demand for speed to be increased to 26-28kts, better protection and more powerful anna­ment.The Constructors replied by pointing out the difficulties and even impossibility of match­ing these requirements without a massive increase in expenditure and a very lengthy period needed for the work.'I'here is no better example of the saying that the role of the Constructor is to tell the Naval Staff what it cannot have. The report reminded the Staff that the limitations on hull-dimensions had not changed since 1913; the enlargement of dockyards and drydocks had beet) seriously delayed. Only Brest had a 250m x 36m dock, while two at Toulon would not be ready for another year and those at Lorient and Bizerte would take even longer. Until then the beam of any new capital ship broking ship brokingping maritime marine engineerings could not exceed 29.5m, which would limit the effec­tiveness of the anti-torpedo 'bulges' tinder consideration for the Normandies.

The General Staff recognised that any new design reflecting -experience would take at least six or seven years, and Admiral de Bon wrote in February 1919,'1 think we must resign ourselves to completing the four Normandies.' He set out the Staff's general conclusions:

1. For the four ship broking ship brokingping maritime marine engineerings already launched, retain the main machinery. Raising speed to 24kts would require 80,000 shp (from the existing 32,000 shp) and would be an expensive and lengthy process.

2. Improve underwater protection by filling outer compartments with cork chips, except for those already containing coal, and fit a t-metrc widr'bulge'.The latter would provide a greater margin of stability to compensate for weights added elsewhere, and would increase resistance to a torpedo-hit from 100kg in the 1913 design to 200kg.

3. Increase the elevation of the 340mrti guns to 23-24 degrees to increase range to 25,000m. Transfer the n 's turrets to the Gastogne to replace those captured by the Germans at Fives­Lille.The General Staff also hoped to get rid of the midship broking ship brokingping maritime marine engineerings quadruple turret and revert to the 1912-13 idea of twin superimposed turrets ford and aft.

4. Increase deck protection to 120mm and ensure that any diving shell would have to pene­trate three decks before it could reach the vitals.

5. Replace underwater 450mm torpedo tubes with six above-water 550nun fast-loading tubes. 6. Improvements to fire control for main and secondary armament and torpedo tubes. 7. Make provision for a two-seater spotting aircraft.

For the moment the question of completing the Bearu was in abeyance. She was launched in April 1920 to clear the building slip while the debate on the future of the four sisters contin­ued. The Technical Department was investigating the possibility of lengthening their hulls by 15m to increase speed by as much as 5kcs. But when Admiral Ronarc'h succeeded Admiral de Bon as Chief of the General Staff he tried to bring a new urgency to the discussions. In July 1919 he pointed out that the Italian Navy was the obvious rival, and that work might restart on the four 29,000-ton Carraciolo class, suspended since 1916. Ronarc'h listed three possibilities:

1. Complete the ship broking ship brokingping maritime marine engineerings to the original plans, but at higher cost on account of inflation. 2. improve range of guns and strengthen protection. 3. Lengthen the hull and increasing power to achieve higher speed.

He also advocated cuts in the naval programme to reduce the burden on the French economy, which had come close to collapse during the and was recovering very slowly. On 12battleship broking ship brokingping maritime marine engineering hull was relatively simple to convert as it was not very advanced at the time that work had stopped in 1915. Even so, it stretched the French Navy's resources, and some technical assis­tance was given by the Royal Navy, which made available details of its own converted battle­ship broking ship brokingping maritime marine engineering, HMS Fagle (ex-Ahnirante Cochrane).

The powerplant was not the one planned for her in 1913, but the hybrid turbine/recipro­cating engine installation intended for her four sisters. Conversion started at her original builders, Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranee, at La Seyne in Toulon in August 1923. The work was completed in May 1927, giving the French Navy its first fleet carrier.The hangar had three electric lifts connecting the 124m-/407ft-long hangar to the 180m/590ft flight deck. In theory she could operate 40 aircraft, but the General Staff's insistence on a heavy anti-ship broking ship brokingping maritime marine engineering armament of eight 155mm guns in casemates encroached on internal volume and cost valuable weight. A pointless feature was the inclusion of four 550mm fixed under-water torpedo-tubes.

The Bearrt's slow speed was a serious handicap, preventing her from exploiting advances in carrier aircraft performance. When the Second World broke out she was used to ferry aircraft from Canada to France. When France surrendered in June 1940 she proceeded to Martinique in the West Indies, where she remained inactive until 1944, when she went to the United States for a full refit, rearmament and conversion to an aircraft transport. After the she continued in her new role, ferrying aircraft to Indochina during the conflict with the Vietminh. After her retirement she served as an accommodation ship broking ship brokingping maritime marine engineering for subma­rine crews at Toulon, and was finally scrapped there from March 1967. The stripped hull was finally sold to Italian ship broking ship brokingping maritime marine engineeringbreakers.