against surface attack. The guns fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of . This gave them a range of at the mount's maximum elevation of +40°. Their ammunition hoists came from her sister Flandre. Béarn carried 250 rounds for each gun. Her anti-aircraft defense was provided by six 50-caliber Canon de Modèle 1924 guns, eight 50-caliber Canon de Modèle 1925 guns, and a dozen Hotchkiss Mitrailleuse de Modèle 1914 machine guns, all on single mounts. The 75 mm guns also had a muzzle velocity of 850 m/s when firing their shells. At an elevation of +40°, the guns had a range of . The carrier had stowage for 450 rounds per gun. The 37 mm guns were semi-automatic loading and only had a rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute. They had an effective range of with their shells which were fired at a muzzle velocity of . The ship had 375 rounds for each gun. Béarn was also fitted with four above-water mounts for torpedo tubes; the ship carried eight Modèle 1923D torpedoes for them. The original waterline belt armor of the Normandie-class battleships was totally inappropriate for Béarns new role as an aircraft carrier and was replaced by a thinner, but much deeper belt of non-cemented armor that extended from above the waterline to below it. The lower armored deck was not altered, but the thickness of the upper armored deck was slightly reduced to . The casemates had sides and a 24 mm roof. The coal bunkers protecting the underwater sides of the boiler rooms were not only retained, but were extended to cover the engine rooms and the forward oil tanks as the feared that the existing torpedo bulkhead could not withstand the power of the larger torpedo warheads that had come into use since the original system was designed. Range data for the pair of mechanical Modèle 1923B fire-control computers that controlled the 155 mm guns and the torpedoes was supplied by four coincidence rangefinders that were mounted on sponsons on the sides of the hull. All-around coverage was assured, except where each was masked by the island, because each rangefinder protruded above the flight deck. The 75 mm guns were controlled by two high-angle directors fitted with 3-meter OPL rangefinders, one on the port side and the other atop the forward end of the island. Career Béarn, named for the historic province