of Béarn, was commissioned on 5 December 1927, although she did not enter service until 1 May 1928. The ship was assigned to the (1st Battleship Squadron) of the (1st Squadron) in the Mediterranean. A week later the carrier loaded aboard the reconnaissance squadron and the bomber squadron , both equipped with Levasseur PL.4 aircraft. That evening Béarn embarked a three-man senatorial commission on a fact-finding trip to Corsica and French Tunisia that lasted until the 20th. On 27 May , equipped with Lévy-Biche LB.2 fighters flew aboard for a cruise to the Atlantic and the English Channel, visiting ports in French Morocco en route. On 20 June Béarn participated in an exercise where the attacked the defenses of Lorient and conducted amphibious landings. She was present during a naval review in Le Havre when the fleet was reviewed by the President of France, Gaston Doumergue on 3 July. The squadron visited ports in Normandy, during which time a LB.2 was forced to ditch, before returning to Brittany on 20 July. The squadron departed for Toulon on 29 July, although Béarn was diverted to Santander, Spain, to be visited by King Alfonso XIII. After a short visit to French Algeria, the ship returned to Toulon on 4 August. André Jubelin, a future admiral and pioneer of the (French Naval Aviation), served aboard the ship during this time, although he had not yet qualified as a pilot. It was during this cruise that the drawbacks of the carrier's low speed became apparent. When operating with the fleet she had to turn into the wind to launch two aircraft and it took her an hour and a quarter at a speed of to rejoin the squadron, despite its low cruising speed of . Béarn made a short training cruise to Corsica and French North Africa between 12 October and 9 November to qualify pilots. Limited by shortages of aircraft (the LB.2s were unserviceable) and experienced pilots, 7C1 only flew two Dewoitine D.1 fighters, 7S2 three PL.4s and 7B1 had four PL.4s. Between them the three squadrons mustered only seven pilots. In December the carrier began a short refit that angled the forward flight deck 4.5 degrees downwards as the first step in allowing aircraft to land over her bow. In addition, the primitive sandbag arresting gear was replaced by two prototypes of mechanically operated arresting gear. After the refit was completed in