|
HMCS Bonaventure (CVL 22)
Majestic class Aircraft carrier in Royal Canadian Navy |
History |
 |
| HMCS Bonaventure (CVL 22) |
| Photo from Canada's Air Force |
 |
Canadian Aircraft Carrier |
| Name: HMCS Bonaventure |
| Class:Modified Majestic Class Small A.S.W. Aircraft Carrier |
| Ordered: |
| Builder: Harland & Wolff, Belfast, UK |
| Laid down: 27 November 1943 |
| Launched: 17 January 1957 |
Commissioned:
17 January 1957 |
| Decommissioned: 3 July 1970 |
| Complement: 1,200 (1,370 war) |
| Homeport: Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| |
Displacement: 16,000 tonnes and
20,000 tons full load |
| Length: 720 ft (220 m)(confimed) |
| Beam: 79.9 ft (24.4 m) |
| Draft: 24.5 ft (7.5 m) |
| Propulsion: Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbines, four Admiralty 3-drum type 350 psi (2.4 MPa) boilers, two shafts; 40,000 shp (30 MW) |
| |
| Speed: 24.5 knots (45.4 km/h) |
| Range: |
Armament: Four 3”/50 twin mountings.(confirmed)
8 × Bofors 40 mm guns ?
|
| Camouflage: |
| Fate: Broken up 1971 |
| Sources for this site: |
| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_carrier |
| Navy site: |
| www.navy.forces.gc.ca |
| Home site: |
| |
| Web site's with more information: |
| A HISTORY OF CANADIAN NAVAL AVIATION 1918-1962
by
J. D. F. KEALY
and
E. C. RUSSELL |
| http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-28Depot-Bonaventure2.htm |
|
As HMS Powerful she was laid down at Harland and Wolff in Belfast on 21 November 1943, and launched on 27 February 1945. Work was suspended after the end of World War II, and was not resumed until the ship was bought by Canada. She was acquired in the early 1950s by the Royal Canadian Navy, which was looking to replace its aging World War II–vintage light carriers Magnificent (another Majestic class carrier) and Warrior, which were deemed unsuitable for the jet age.
Several surplus U.S. and U.K. ships were considered, and the then-incomplete HMS Powerful, a Majestic-class light fleet carrier, was purchased in 1952 from the Royal Navy on the condition that it be refitted with an angled flight deck and steam catapult. |
| The navy's new flagship, affectionately known as the "Bonnie", carried a force of about 34 McDonnell Douglas F2H-3 Banshee jet fighters, Grumman CS2F Tracker ASW aircraft (built by de Havilland in Toronto), and Sikorsky HO4S helicopters.
Even with the refit, landing a Banshee on the Bonaventure’s relatively short flight deck was pushing the envelope. The wide-winged Trackers were also a tight fit. Despite this, and because of the hard work and dedication of her crew, the Bonaventure was able by 1958 to conduct around-the-clock SUSTOPs (sustained operations), keeping four Trackers and two HO4S's in the air at all times, saturating an area of 200 square nautical miles (690 km2) with anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft.
This made the Royal Canadian Navy the only one in the world at the time other than the US Navy capable of conducting around-the-clock air operations for sustained periods.
After the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces, the Bonaventure was decommissioned, in Halifax, on 3 July 1970 and was scrapped in Taiwan in 1971. Components from Bonaventure’s steam catapult were used to rebuild the catapult aboard Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne.
Text from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Bonaventure_(CVL_22)
|
Detailed information about HMCS Bonaventure
In A HISTORY OF CANADIAN NAVAL AVIATION 1918-1962
by
J. D. F. KEALY
and
E. C. RUSSELL we can find this story of HMCS Bonaventure |
The completion of HMCS Bonaventure, the first aircraft
carrier owned outright by the country, was an occasion of great rejoicing. With the addition of the new vessel Canadian naval aviation had definitely come of age.
As described in the previous chapter the Cabinet in April 1952 had authorized the acquisition and moderni-zation of an aircraft carrier, to replace Magnificent.
At that time the most suitable ship appeared to be the modi-fied Majestic Class light fleet carrier, HMS Powerful, which, after being laid down by Harland and Wolff in November 1943 and launched in February 1946, had lain uncompleted at Belfast since May 1946 when work had been stopped on her. |
| |
|
| Aircraft carried: 34 |
Tracker CS2F
|
Sea Hawk
Trackers
HO4S Sikorsky Helicopter
Gannet anti-submarine
Avengers
F2H3 Banshee all-weather jet fighter, from 1955
VS 880 and VS 881 Squadrons
were the two operational Squadrons
|
VS 880 received the first
allocation of aircraft in May 1957 and VS 881 converted to TRACKERS a short time later.
VS 881
was the first RCN Squadron to operate from HMCS BONAVENTURE in
Sept. 30, 1957.
These two
Squadrons shared responsibility for providing detachments of eight-aircraft aboard HMCS
BONAVENTURE.
This continued until VS 881 amalgamated with VS 880 in July 1959.
The Banshees were retired in 1962.
In 1964 new CHSS-2 Sea King helicopters were added to Bonaventure’s complement,
Following
amalgamation VS 880 provided CS2F detachments aboard the aircraft carrier until the last aircraft was
launched in Bedford Basin, Nova Scotia on 12 December 1969.
More detailed information aboutabout Tracker CS2F
|
|
| Sensors and
processing systems: |
|
| |
|
|
| Electronic warfare
and decoys: |
|
| |
|
|
Main source for this page is
A HISTORY OF CANADIAN NAVAL AVIATION 1918-1962
by
J. D. F. KEALY
and
E. C. RUSSELL |
| If you have information to fill in,
please contact webmaster@waships.name |
|
|
|
Layout: www.wikimedia.name
www.aircraftcarrier.name by wikimedia.name is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Norway License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.aircraftcarrier.name/copyright. 