@vodot You know the French actually had one aircraft carrier in ww2 and one work in progress,
- Béarn –
Originally laid down as a Normandie-class battleship after WWI, but converted into an aircraft carrier in the 1920s.
By WWII she was quite outdated: slow (about 21 knots), poorly armored, and not capable of operating modern aircraft effectively.
At the start of the war she mostly ferried aircraft rather than conducting carrier operations.
After the fall of France in 1940, she went to Martinique in the Caribbean and stayed neutral under Vichy control until 1943, when she joined the Free French.
J2. offre-class carriers –
Planned modern fleet carriers (two ordered: Joffre and Painlevé) intended to give France a competitive naval aviation capability.
Construction began before WWII, but Joffre was only about 25% complete by 1940. Both were canceled after the German invasion.