the major changes made during the conversion was that her original armament and fire-control equipment was replaced by four 38-caliber 5-inch (127 mm) Mk 37 dual-purpose guns in single mounts where the 155 mm guns had formerly been, twenty-four guns in six quadruple mounts, one each at the bow and stern and the remaining guns in sponsons on the side of the hull, and twenty-six Oerlikon guns in individual mountings. Four Mk 51 directors were added to control the 5- and 1.1-inch guns and SA-2 early-warning and SF surface-search radars were installed on the island. Béarn stowed 300 rounds per gun for the 5-inch guns, 2,210 for each 1.1-inch gun and 8,862 rounds for each Oerlikon. Other changes included the removal of the middle elevator, the addition of a crane on the port side of the flight deck and the replacement of her diesel generators by a pair of 300-kW General Motors generators. The protective coal was removed and the coal bunkers were converted into oil tanks, which increased her fuel capacity to . The ship departed New Orleans on 30 December, bound for Portsmouth, Virginia, where she was docked on 8–19 January 1945 to fix issues that arose on the voyage. On 24 February Béarn conducted speed trials and reached . She spent the next month working up and was declared ready on 26 February. Béarn had to wait for the arrival of 230 additional crewmen before she could steam to New York City to pick up her cargo on 3 March. This included 148 American soldiers and sailors, 88 aircraft and 85 cases of material that totalled . Twenty-six North American P-51 Mustang fighters and three Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers were stowed inside the hangar with fourteen P-51s and forty-one Republic P-47 Thunderbolts on the flight deck. The ship also embarked a four-man US Navy liaison detachment. Béarn steamed from New York on 7 March as part of Convoy CU 61. Early on the morning of 13 March, the transport briefly lost power during heavy weather and collided with the troop ship . The impact killed 68 soldiers and 1 Naval Armed Guardsman aboard the troop ship and Béarn had 1 crewman missing, 3 killed and 7 wounded. Both ships suffered hull damage and the transport had her starboard forward guns disabled. They both sailed to Ponta Delgada, Azores, for emergency repairs and arrived there on the