Normandie - class battleship The " Normandie " class of dreadnought battleship s was a group of five ships ordered for the French Navy in 1912 – 1913 . The class comprised " Normandie " , the lead ship , " Flandre " , " Gascogne " , " Languedoc " , and . The design incorporated a radical arrangement for the twelve 340 mm main battery guns : three quadruple gun turret s , as opposed to the twin turrets used by most other navies . The first four ships were also equipped with an unusual hybrid propulsion system that used both steam turbine and triple expansion engines to increase fuel efficiency . The ships , named after provinces of France , were never completed due to shifting production requirements after the outbreak of war in 1914 . The first four ships were sufficiently advanced in construction to permit their launching to clear the shipyards for other , more important work . Many of the guns built for the ships were instead converted for use by the Army . After the war , the French Navy considered several proposals to complete the ships , either as originally designed or modernized to account for lessons from the war . The weak French post - war economy , however , necessitated that the first four ships be broken up for scrap . The last ship , which was not significantly advanced at the time work halted , was converted into an aircraft carrier in the 1920s . She remained in service in various capacities until the 1960s . The ship was ultimately scrapped in 1967 . Development . In December 1911 , the French Navy ' s Technical Committee issued a report that examined the design of the that had been ordered for 1912 . They concluded that the amidships gun turret was an unsatisfactory choice , based on previous experiences with blast damage on battleships from the 1880s . This position influenced the construction of the next class of dreadnought battleship s , for which design work began shortly thereafter . The French Navy ' s design staff submitted the first draft of the new dreadnought design in February 1912 . The size of French shipyard facilities significantly impacted the design . Length was limited to , breadth to , and draft to approximately . These dimensions limited the ship to a displacement of around and a speed of , depending on the armament arrangement . The design staff advocated retaining the same armament and armor as the previous " Bretagne " class , and a top speed of 21 knots . The design staff prepared another version that was armed with a main battery of sixteen guns in four quadruple turrets and had a top speed of 20 knots . The Technical department prepared two different designs for the propulsion system . Four direct drive steam turbines were proposed , as in the " Bretagne " class ; the other option was a hybrid system that used a pair of direct drive turbines on the inner two propeller shafts , and two reciprocating steam engines on the outer shafts for low - speed cruising . The latter design was adopted for the new ships , as the all - turbine system was less fuel - efficient . The fifth ship , , however , was instead equipped with four sets of turbines . The armor layout of the " Bretagne " class was retained , and the full load draft fixed at no greater than . The next issue to be addressed was the main armament . The General Staff decided in March 1912 to retain the gun of the " Bretagne " class . They chose the new quadruple turret and advocated an armament of twelve guns in two quadruple and two double turrets . If this arrangement placed too much weight on the bow and stern , the arrangement of five twin turrets as in the " Bretagne " - class battleships would be substituted . In April 1912 , the Naval Supreme Council accepted the latter design , unless the quadruple turret could be readied by the time construction was scheduled to begin . The armor layout of the " Bretagne " class was to be retained , though an increase in the thickness of the main belt was to be effected if possible . The Technical Department prepared two new designs , A7 , which incorporated the five twin turrets , and A7bis , which was armed with three quadruple turrets . The A7bis design was some lighter than the A7 design , and on 6 April , the Navy accepted a quadruple turret design submitted by Saint - Chamond . The secondary battery was initially to have comprised twenty - two guns , but by subtracting four guns , twelve guns could be added for the same weight . The 100 mm design was not completed by the time work was scheduled to begin , so the 138 . 6 mm gun was chosen . The Technical Department had initially proposed mounting the secondary guns in single and twin turrets , but it was determined that this arrangement was not flexible enough . Instead , they were mounted in casemate s in eight groups of three guns . Characteristics and machinery . The ships were long between perpendiculars , long at the waterline , and long overall . They had a beam of and a draft of . At full load , the ships were to displace . The first four ships were equipped with a pair of steam turbines on the center shafts , without reversing gear . " Normandie " and " Flandre " had Parsons turbines , " Gascogne " had turbines built by Rateau - Bretagne , and " Languedoc " s turbines were built by Schneider - Zoelly . The four ships had a pair of four - cylinder triple expansion engines for steaming astern or cruising at low speed . The last ship , " Béarn " , was equipped with four Parsons turbines . " Normandie " and " Gascogne " were given twenty - one Guyot du Temple small tube boilers , " Flandre " and " Languedoc " were equipped with twenty - eight Belleville small tube boilers , while " Béarn " had twenty - one Niclausse small tube boilers . The ships ' engines were rated at and had a top speed of , with plans to increase the power to and . The ships were designed to carry of coal and of fuel oil , but up to of coal could be stored in the hull . At a cruising speed of , the ships could steam for ; at , the range fell to , and at top speed , the cruising radius dropped to . The ships would have had a crew of 43 officers , 120 petty officers , and 1 , 037 enlisted men . Armament and armor . Twelve 340mm / 45 Modèle 1912 gun s mounted in three quadruple turrets comprised the main battery . One turret was placed forward , one amidships , and one aft , all on the centerline . The turrets weighed , and were electrically trained and hydraulically elevated . The guns were divided into pairs and mounted in twin cradles ; a thick bulkhead divided the turrets . Each pair of guns had its own ammunition hoist and magazine . They could be fired simultaneously or independently . The guns had a range of and had a rate of fire of two rounds per minute . The shells were armor - piercing rounds and were fired with a muzzle velocity of . Each gun was to have been supplied with 100 rounds of ammunition . Five rangefinder s provided fire - control for the main battery . Two of the rangefinders were mounted on the conning tower and the other three were placed atop each of the turrets . The turrets also had secondary gunnery control stations . The ships would also have been armed with a secondary battery of twenty - four 138 . 6 mm / 55 Modèle 1910 guns , each singly mounted in casemates in the hull . These guns fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of . The guns would have been supplied with 275 rounds of ammunition each . Six M1902 anti - aircraft guns , which were converted from low - angle guns , would also have been carried by the ships . The ships were also equipped with six torpedo tube s , mounted submerged in the hull . Each ship was to be supplied with 36 torpedoes . The ships ' waterline belt armor was thick amidships , and reduced to at the bow and stern . The upper belt was thick amidships and on the ends . The ships had two armored decks , both thick . Sloped armor thick connected the lower deck to the side armor . The conning tower had 300 mm thick sides . Each of the barbettes that supported the main battery turrets were protected with of armor ; the turrets had thick faces and thick sides . The casemate guns were protected by 160 – 180 mm thick armor plating . Construction and cancellation . " Normandie " and " Languedoc " were ordered on 12 December 1912 , followed by " Flandre " and " Gascogne " on 30 July 1913 . " Béarn " was ordered on 3 December ; the five ships would permit the creation of two four - ship divisions with the three " Bretagne " - class ships then under construction . Work on the class was suspended at the outbreak of World War I , as all resources were needed for the Army . The government did not immediately mobilize for war , as they expected the conflict to be brief . The first four ships were launched after the start of the war , but only to clear the slipways for other purposes . In July 1915 , the Navy determined that the ships were not a priority , and prohibited further work . Later in July , work on the ships ' armament was suspended , save the guns themselves , which could be converted for use by the Army . Four of the completed 340 mm guns were converted into railway guns for the French Army . Nine of the guns built for " Languedoc " were also mounted on railway carriages in 1919 , after the end of the war . Several of the 138 . 6 mm guns were also converted for service with the Army . At the time work stopped , " Normandie " s hull was 65 percent complete , her engines were 70 percent complete , and her boilers were delivered but were instead installed in new destroyer s . The turrets were 40 percent assembled . " Languedoc " had 49 percent of her hull and 73 percent of her engines constructed ; her boilers were 96 percent complete and only 26 percent of her turrets were built . The hulls of " Flandre " and " Gascogne " were 65 and 60 percent complete , respectively , and their engines were 60 and 44 percent assembled . Both of their sets of boilers were used for destroyers . The two ships ' turrets were 51 and 75 percent complete . Work on " Béarn " had not significantly progressed by the time war broke out : her hull was only 8 – 10 percent complete and her engines were only 25 percent finished . Her boilers were 17 percent assembled , and her turrets were at 20 percent . In January 1918 , a final wartime order specified that the ships remained suspended , but that all material that had been stockpiled for work would remain in place . By that time , some of steel plating that had been earmarked for " Gascogne " had been taken for other uses . On November 22 , 1918 , days after the Armistice with Germany , the design staff sent the General Staff a proposal to complete the first four " Normandie " s to a modified design . The General Staff replied that the ships would need a top speed of and a more powerful main battery . Since the dockyard facilities had not been enlarged during the war , the size of the ships could not be significantly increased . This allowed for only modest improvements , particularly for the installation of anti - torpedo bulges . In February 1919 , the General Staff decided that the ships would be completed anyway , because new vessels incorporating the lessons of the war could not be completed for at least 6 to 7 years , due to the lengthy design studies such battleships would require . The Technical Department created a revised design that incorporated some improvements . The machinery for the four ships that had been launched during the war would be retained ; increasing their speed to required a corresponding increase to , which could be obtained by building new turbines . The elevation of the main guns was to be increased to 23 – 24 degrees , which would increase the range of the guns to . The need to engage targets at longer ranges was confirmed by the examination of one of the ex - Austrian ships that had been surrendered to France at the end of the war . The main armored deck was to be increased to to increase resistance to plunging fire . The submerged 450 mm torpedo tubes were to be replaced with deck - mounted tubes , and fire control equipment was to be improved . Equipment for handling a two - seat spotter aircraft was also to be installed . After the war , Admiral Pierre Ronarc ' h became Chief of the General Staff , and in July 1919 he argued that the Italian Navy was the country ' s primary rival , and that they might resume work on the s that had been suspended during the war . He suggested there were three options for the first four ships : complete them as designed , increase the range of their guns and improve their armor , or lengthen their hull and install new engines to increase speed . The Technical Department determined that lengthening the hulls by could increase speed by as much as . Nevertheless , by 12 September 1919 , he had determined that completing the ships would be too expensive for the fragile French economy . Plans for the four incomplete ships included converting them into cargo ships , fuel tankers , or passenger liners , and using them as floating fuel depots . These plans were abandoned , however . The four ships were formally cancelled in the 1922 construction program , and were laid up in Landevennec and cannibalized for parts before being broken up in 1923 – 1926 . Much of the salvaged material was incorporated into completing " Béarn " and in the cruisers built during the 1922 program . " Béarn " was launched in April 1920 to clear the slip ; the Navy had not yet decided what to do with the vessel . Plans to complete the battleship included replacement of the coal - fired boilers with eight oil - fired Niclausse boilers and new , more powerful turbines . A new quadruple turret that allowed for greater range was considered , along with twin turrets mounting guns . In 1922 , the Navy instead decided to complete the ship as an aircraft carrier . Conversion work began in August 1923 , and was completed by May 1927 . The ship was the first carrier of the French Navy . She served in the fleet through World War II , though she was used as a ferry for aircraft . In 1944 , she was refitted in the United States and equipped with a battery of modern American anti - aircraft guns . She remained in service through the First Indochina War , still as an aircraft ferry . She was ultimately broken up for scrap starting in 1967 .