What’s Bearn’s max air group?

[Admiral Beez]

The French carrier Bearn was short and slow, but had a double hangar. If given folding Martlets and Vindicators how big could the CAG get?

 

[Shortround6]

Doesn't matter how many planes you could stuff in the hangers.

How fast could it launch an air group, how fast could it recover an air group and how long could it support 30 or more aircraft?

wiki could very well be wrong but she carried only about 26,000 US gallons of aviation fuel.

If that is correct and each of the American aircraft needed 150 gallons to fill the fuel tanks you get each plane of a 30 plane air group into the air 5-6 times before you are out of AV gas.
If you maintain a daylight CAP and keep a few planes in the air for a day light search( Your CAP protects you from enemy search planes, your search planes protect you from enemy surface ships or subs) you are going to be out of fuel in days.

 

[SaparotRob]

Did double hangers ever work out? I don't believe USN carriers had them nor did the RN. Didn't seem to work too well for IJN ships.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Did double hangers ever work out? I don't believe USN carriers had them nor did the RN.

Most British fast fleet carriers had some semblance of a double hangar. Here's HMS Ark Royal.

Indeed, HMS Courageous, Furious, Glorious, Ark Royal, Indomitable, Indefatigable, Implacable had double hangars, though the last three had only half length lower hangars. See below.

Only HMS Hermes, Eagle, the three Illustrious class, plus the postwar light fleets (Majestic, Colossus and Centaur classes) had single hangars. Like most British fast fleets, the maintenance carrier, HMS Unicorn also had double hangars. Lastly the Audacious class, Britain's largest carrier until today's QE class had double hangars, shown below in their post-upgrade guise.

When your carriers are being thrown about the North Sea the USN practice of keeping much of the CAG on deck would be detrimental to the FAA aircraft. So, the British had to choose between double hangars or smaller air groups - at least until fleet ops moved to kinder climes where deck parking was more feasible.

 

[SaparotRob]

Most British fast fleet carriers had some semblance of a double hangar. Here's HMS Ark Royal.

View attachment 587118

Indeed, HMS Courageous, Furious, Glorious, Ark Royal, Indomitable, Indefatigable, Implacable had double hangars, though the last three had only half length lower hangars. See below.

View attachment 587117

Only HMS Hermes, Eagle, the three Illustrious class, plus the postwar light fleets (Majestic, Colossus and Centaur classes) had single hangars. Like most British fast fleets, the maintenance carrier, HMS Unicorn also had double hangars. Lastly the Audacious class, Britain's largest carrier until today's QE class had double hangars.

When your carriers are being thrown about the North Sea the USN practice of keeping much of the CAG on deck would be detrimental to the FAA aircraft. So, the British had to choose between double hangars or smaller air groups - at least until fleet ops moved to kinder climes where deck parking was more feasible.

Live and learn. There are many gaps in my "studies". I had a a rather provincial outlook. There were naval actions in the Indian Ocean? There's an INDIAN Ocean?

 

[Admiral Beez]

I do wonder if the British experience with double hangars was found to be beneficial, especially with the early war's small air groups. HMS Glorious certainly didn't make use of her double hangar when she was sunk.

HMS Furious had 36 aircraft. If all folding types I imagine the entire CAG could be accommodated in one hangar. Here's Furious upper hangar, looking to the bows, well forward of the aft lift, I'd say.

And here's an Illustrious class' single hangar, with about 24-28 aircraft visible. No need for Furious to have a second hangar if this tight hangar packing is SOP.