List of aircraft of the Royal Canadian Navy
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This is a list of aircraft of the Royal Canadian Navy covering the period until 1968 when all aircraft operations were transferred to the newly unified Canadian Armed Forces, originally with Maritime Command and since 1975 with Air Command, which has subsequently been renamed as the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Prior to the Second World War the Royal Canadian Navy did not operate aircraft. The Royal Navy Air Service's Royal Navy Canadian Air Service used Curtiss H.12 flying boats to carry out anti-submarine patrols off the Canadian East Coast.
During the Second World War, Canadian personnel manned the carriers HMS Nabob (from 1943 until sunk in 1944) and HMS Puncher (from 1944 until returned to the US in 1946), with their complement of Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier based aircraft.
With the loan of HMCS Warrior in 1946, RCN received its first aircraft, operating Fairey Firefly fighter-bombers and Supermarine Seafire fighters loaned from the Royal Navy. When both aircraft and the ship failed to meet Canadian requirements, HMCS Magnificent was purchased in 1948, along with Hawker Sea Fury fighters and in 1950, Grumman Avenger torpedo bombers. The Navy considered purchasing Grumman Hellcat fighters, but these were rejected in favour of the Sea Fury.
From then until 1968, the RCN operated a variety of fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft. After the Canadian Forces sold off HMCS Bonaventure in 1970, Canadian naval vessels operated only Sea King helicopters. The Trackers were transferred to land bases to perform coastal patrols, while the Sikorsky HO4S plane-guard helicopters were retired, and other types still in service were allocated as per their RCAF equivalents.
Aircraft that remained in service after unification are highlighted in blue.
Aircraft[]
Name | 1968 CF designator |
Place of manufacture |
Primary role(s) |
Service period |
# used |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Avro Anson Mk.V | n/a | Canada | utility/trainer | 1946–1952 | 2 | [1] ex-Royal Canadian Air Force |
Beechcraft Expeditor | CT-128 | US | transport/trainer | 1952–1960 | 10 | [2] ex-Royal Canadian Air Force |
Bell HTL-4 & HTL-6 | n/a | US | utility helicopter | 1951–1967 | 8 | [3] |
Canadair Silver Star | CT-133 | Canada | trainer | 1955–2002 | 16 | [4][5] ex-Royal Canadian Air Force |
de Havilland DH.82C Tiger Moth | n/a | Canada | trainer | 1948–1957 | 3 | [3] ex-Royal Canadian Air Force |
Fairey Albacore | n/a | UK | torpedo bomber | 1943–1949 | 6 | [note 1] |
Fairey Firefly | n/a | UK | fighter strike-reconnaissance | 1946–1953 | 76 | on loan.[6][7][note 2] |
Fairey Swordfish | n/a | UK | torpedo bomber | 1946–1948 | 22 | [8][note 2] |
Grumman Avenger | n/a | US | torpedo bomber/ASW/AEW | 1950–1960 | 125 | [9][10][note 3][note 4] |
Grumman CS2F Tracker | CP-121 | US/Canada | ASW | 1956–1994 | 100 | [9][note 5] |
Hawker Sea Fury | n/a | UK | fighter | 1948–1957 | 75 | [13][14][15][note 6] |
McDonnell F2H Banshee | n/a | US | fighter | 1955–1962 | 39 | [16][17][note 3] |
North American Harvard | n/a | Canada | trainer | 1946–1958 | 36 | [note 7][note 8] |
Piasecki HUP-3 Retriever | n/a | US | rescue/utility helicopter | 1954–1964 | 3 | [18][note 9] |
Schweizer SGS 2-12 | n/a | US | training glider | 1946–1949 | 1 | [23] |
Sikorsky CHSS-2 Sea King | CH-124 | Canada | ASW helicopter | 1963–2018 | 41 | [18] |
Sikorsky HO4S | n/a | US | rescue & ASW helicopter | 1952–1970 | 13 | [18][24][note 10] |
Supermarine Seafire | n/a | UK | fighter | 1946–1954 | 35 | on loan.[18][note 2] |
Supermarine Walrus | n/a | UK | utility amphibian | 1946–1946 | 4 | [27][note 2][note 11] |
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ^ transferred to RCN but never flown
- ^ a b c d ex-Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm
- ^ a b ex-US Navy
- ^ Extensively modified for Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) role, number includes Airborne early warning (AEW) variant.
- ^ 102 RCN CS2F serial numbers were assigned. 99 Trackers built under licence by de Havilland Canada were assigned RCN serial numbers 1502-1600 and used operationally. One US-built S2F-1, BuNo 136519, was obtained for manufacturing verification and was assigned RCN number 1500. In 1954, this aircraft was given serial number X-500 and was reassigned to operational testing. In 1956, it was upgraded to CS2F-1 standards and assigned serial number 1501, and was used as a stationary instructional airframe at Shearwater until 1972.[11][12]
- ^ 1 FB.10 and 74 FB.11
- ^ ex-Royal Canadian Air Force
- ^ Built by Noorduyn and Canadian Car & Foundry
- ^ Ex-US Army, built as H-25A and transferred to RCN in May 1954,[19][20] modified and redesignated on delivery to conform to US Navy HUP-3 standards[21][22]
- ^ 3 built as HO4S-2 and 10 built as HO4S-3; 1 HO4S-2 badly damaged in landing accident and subsequently used as stationary instructional airframe, 2 remaining HO4S-2 aircraft upgraded to HO4S-3 standards in 1955-1956[25][26]
- ^ Used by No.1 Naval Air Gunner School/743 Fleet Requirements Unit
Citations[]
- ^ Pettipas, 1986, p.9 & 42
- ^ Pettipas, 1986, p.42 & 80
- ^ a b Griffin, 1969, p.495
- ^ Lockheed CT-133 Silver Star (T-bird) 1955 accessdate: 21 January 2014
- ^ Pettipas, 1986, p.59
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-05. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Griffin, 1969, p.12, 589,
- ^ Griffin, 1969, p.589
- ^ a b Griffin, 1969, p.13
- ^ Griffin, 1969, p.601-602
- ^ "Grumman CS2F/CP 121 Tracker". Shearwater Aviation Museum. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
- ^ Baugher, Joe (15 February 2021). "US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos, Third Series (135774 to 140052)". joebaugher.com. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- ^ Griffin, 1969, p.14
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Walker, R.W.R. Sea Fury detailed list, 2004. accessdate: 21 January 2014.
- ^ Griffin, 1969, p.15
- ^ Griffin, 1969, p.602
- ^ a b c d Griffin, 1969, p.17
- ^ Walker, R.W.R. "Royal Canadian Navy – HUP detailed list". Canadian Military Aircraft Serial Numbers. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ^ Baugher, Joe (2 September 2018). "1951 USAF Serial Numbers". joebaugher.com. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ^ "Piasecki HUP-3". ingeniumcanada.org. Ingenium Canada - Canada Air and Space Museum. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ^ "Piasecki HUP-3". www.shearwateraviationmuseum.ns.ca. Shearwater Aviation Museum. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
- ^ Pettipas, 1986, p.10 & 25
- ^ Griffin, 1969, p.602-603
- ^ Walker, R.W.R. "Royal Canadian Navy – HO4S detailed list". Canadian Military Aircraft Serial Numbers. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ^ Murray, Robert. "Canada Aviation Museum Aircraft – Sikorsky HO4S-3 (S-55) Horse – Royal Canadian Navy (RCN)" (PDF). Canada Aviation Museum. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ^ Griffin, 1969, p.17, 511 & 573
Bibliography[]
Posting War Ship Listings: Postwar Canadian Ship Listing 1945–Present
- Griffin, John A. Canadian Military Aircraft Serials & Photographs 1920 - 1968. Ottawa: Queen's Printer, Publication No. 69-2, 1969.
- Molson, Ken M. and Harold A. Taylor. Canadian Aircraft Since 1909. Stittsville, Ontario: Canada's Wings, Inc., 1982. ISBN 0-920002-11-0.
- Walker, R.W.R. [url: http://www.rwrwalker.ca/ Canadian Military Aircraft Serial Numbers], 2004. accessdate: 21 January 2014.
- Howard, John. Royal Canadian Navy Aircraft Serial Numbers accessdate: 21 January 2014.
- Pettipas, Leo. Canadian Naval Aviation 1945-1968. L. Pettipas/Canadian Naval Air Group, Winnipeg: 1986, ISBN 0-9692528-0-3
- Pettipas, Leo. Aircraft of the RCN. L. Pettipas/Canadian Naval Air Group, Winnipeg: 1988, ISBN 978-0-9692528-3-2
External links[]
- RCAF.com (Includes aircraft used by RCN)
- Shearwater Aviation Museum - Aircraft History
- Canadian military historical aircraft
- Lists of military aircraft
- Royal Canadian Navy
- History of Canadian military aviation
- Canadian military-related lists