ordered from American manufacturers on 3 June, including 15 new Curtiss H-75A-4 fighters, 25 Stinson 105 utility aircraft, and 6 Brewster Buffalo fighters intended for the Belgian Air Component. Sold as surplus by the US Navy, 44 Curtiss SBC Helldiver biplane dive bombers arrived on 15 June and were loaded that day. The carrier and Jeanne d'Arc departed the next morning, bound for Brest. The ships did not hear the French High Command's order to divert to Fort-de-France, on the island of Martinique in the French West Indies, broadcast on 18 June, but did hear the repeat message on the 20th, after Brest had already been occupied by the Germans. They arrived at Fort-de-France on 27 June and became one of a dozen or so French ships that were effectively interned at Martinique—at U.S. insistence—to prevent their use by Germany. The carrier's aircraft were unloaded ashore on 19 July and the M2 Browning machine guns aboard the fighters were removed to be used to bolster the anti-aircraft defenses of the French ships; Béarn received a dozen of the weapons. Many of the aircraft were later destroyed either by exposure to the elements or scavenging. Rising tensions with Thailand and Japan over French Indochina beginning in September caused the Vichy Government to open successful negotiations with the Americans to allow the delivery of Béarns aircraft and supplies to Indochina, but this was rejected by the German Armistice Commission which had to approve all Vichy French movements. The commission did approve the transfer of the aircraft and supplies to Africa, but this was rejected by the Americans. The ship made brief deployments to Guadeloupe in May and August 1941. When her hull was being scraped on 6 December, a diver discovered that one propeller blade had fallen off. In March 1942, all of her 37 mm AA guns were dismounted and transferred to land installations. On 19 April, due to the return to power of the pro-German politician Pierre Laval, the United States pressured (Admiral) Georges Robert, High Commissioner of the Republic to the Antilles, to immobilize the ship; negotiations lasted until 14 May as Robert required that the carrier be able to move in case of hurricanes, but he finally agreed and the German Armistice Commission concurred on the 22nd. As part of the agreement, Béarn transferred two-thirds of her fuel to an oil tanker and had four of her six