Aircraft Carriers of the Royal Canadian Navy in the years 1940-1950

Welcome I am Lieutenant Robert Grenier and I served on the aircraft carriers HMCS Warrior and HMCS Magnificent during the years 1940-1950. Leave me the pleasure to tell you how it was.

Here is the HMCS Warrior

and now the HMCS Magnificent

The emblems of the Warrior and the Magnificent

As there is not enough documentation on the aircraft carriers of the Royal Canadian Navy in the post-war years, and because I had the honor and the pleasure to serve on 2 different aircraft carriers at the end of the years ' 40 and in the years ' 50, let me show you with the help of texts and some photos how we lived it.

Here is the context: 1945 marks the end of the second world war. Between 1950 and 1953, Canada gets involved in the conflict of the war of Korea. Magnificent was chosen as aircraft carrier being used for the intensive training of the pilots. In this context, you will understand that every takeoff and every arrival was "at high risk". Here is therefore what this looked like on an aircraft carrier in this period.

Here is what a pilot sees when approaching the landing deck of the ship. He must take sure to catch a cable to stop the aircraft and if not he crashes into the barriers. He has a space of 800 feet long and 90 feet wide to land.

Here an airplane "Avenger" which has failed to cling to the cables ! It is therefore entered a 3 of security barriers that have the effect of the crash nose.

The pilot puts the gas, but was unable to raise his plane and headed for a Crash, for sure !

It does not looks like big waves, but this one was at least 80 feet ! We were hammered during 10 days and instead of crossing the Atlantic in 4 days, as usual.

In conclusion, some good photos…

But there is more to tell about aircraft carriers. This is why I invite you to my Web site for more details about life aboard an aircraft carrier in the years 1940-1950. It is here: http://www.freewebs.com/aircraft-carriers/index.htm Thank you for your visit This little slide show is a tribute to our veterans who fought proudly risking their lives and their health to defend a cause that was a good one. Présented by : Ben Garneau bengarneau@yahoo.ca my site