Ship identification question

[Good2Golf]

For money invested vs value back, the cancellation of the Bras D'or was probably worse, relatively, than the Arrow.  At least they didn't torch it though...what a great piece of history to still have it!

Regards
G2G

 

[Pusser]

Actually Fred, E is definitely Bonaventure: in the whole history of the class (Colosus class light carrier) we Canadians were the only ones crazy enough to fly something as big as Trackers ASW birds from them. As the picture show, most of them are nicely lined up on deck.

I have been told that in an exercise with the Americans off Bermuda, the USN Trackers were supposed to land and be refuelled on Bonnie but refused and threatened to ditch their planes if the controllers did not authorize them to land in Bermuda instead. Is this a true story: I don't know. It was told by my first training chief, who had been an air bosn onboard Bonnie - but I was a mere Naval Cadet then and he may just have been twisting all of our tails.

I've heard a similar story only it was with respect to USN Banshees.  The RCN also had Banshees and flew them off BONAVENTURE for a few years before replacing them with Trackers.  The Banshee was the oly jet fighter ever in service with the RCN.

On another note, it is worth pointing out that the RCN was a pioneer in the use of angled flight decks and BONAVENTURE was the test platform.  MAGNIFICENT before her was actually the same class as BONAVENTURE, but always had a straight flight deck.

 

[Sub_Guy]

I always thought the Bonnie was a Majestic class.

Didn't Brazil fly trackers off their carrier, which was a Colossus class?

 

[aesop081]

we Canadians were the only ones crazy enough to fly something as big as Trackers ASW birds from them.

Canadian Trackers were also smaller than other Trackers.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

DH, you are right. But the "Majestics" were just the last six Colossus modified to upgrade to more modern arrester gear, weapons handling bays, shops, catapults and UNREP gear due to the long delays in commissioning and to handle jet planes. As the ship itself goes, they were the same. Bonnie started construction without an angled deck but was declared surplus before completion. When canada bought her in 1952, it was on the understanding that she would be completed as an angled deck carrier. Otherwise she would have looked exactly like a Colossus.

Also, the Brazilian Navy had some Trackers, which they flew from the old Minas Gerais (a real Colossus class but modified with angled deck), however I believe it was only the AWACS, AEW model, not the ASW.

And they never operated in the Good ol' North-Atlantic: Has anybody seen the picture of a Tracker being catapulted of Bonnie through a wave before? Look for it its out there (I am sure Marcom's Museum in Halifax has it.)

 

[Good2Golf]

For those familiar with the Bonnie, what substantive rework was done for the angled deck.  On the pictures I've seen, she and the Magnificent look identical, save for what just looks like an angled outline painted on the deck.  I suppose the arrestor gear was similarly angled as well, but was there any additional deck structure on the port side of the Bonnie to extend the flight deck? 

Regards
G2G

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

My understanding from what I read is that the first angled decks on British carriers only required a slight srtetching of the port sponsoon in order to square it off some at the front end - but that was it. The most important changes were re-aligning the arrester gear to the angled deck and introducing new types of landing mirrors - because you now had to land on an airstrip that was in effect moving sideways. Also. antennae forward of the angled deck on the port side were moved to starboard.

 

[Good2Golf]

Thanks OGBD.  Now that I look at it again, the port sponson is notably larger.  I guess what struck me in the past was that there was still a big chunk out of what would otherwise be a nice "squared-off" (perpendicular to the actual angle of the deck) at the end of the angled deck.

Regards
G2G