HMCS WARRIOR (31)

HMCS WARRIOR

The History of HMCS WARRIOR

HMCS Warrior was the first aircraft carrier commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy. She was a Colossus-class light fleet carrier built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Ordered on 7 August 1942 as HMS Brave, she was renamed Warrior before construction began. Her keel was laid on 12 December 1942 and she was launched on 20 May 1944. Designed for operations in warm tropical waters of the Indian Ocean and Pacific, she was completed without adequate heating systems for much of her equipment.

The ship was loaned to Canada and commissioned as HMCS Warrior on 24 January 1946 under Captain Frank Houghton. After sea trials she sailed from Portsmouth and arrived in Halifax on 31 March 1946, escorted by HMCS Micmac and HMCS Middlesex. She embarked Supermarine Seafires of 803 Squadron and Fairey Fireflies of 825 Squadron. Warrior gave the RCN its first experience operating a carrier of its own, following wartime service by Canadian crews on the escort carriers HMS Nabob and HMS Puncher.

Operations in the cold North Atlantic soon exposed her limitations. Unheated equipment proved unreliable in winter conditions off Canada's east coast. In November 1947 she was moved to Esquimalt on the west coast. With postwar budget constraints and the need for a more suitable vessel, Canada arranged to return her to the Royal Navy in exchange for the Majestic-class carrier HMCS Magnificent. Warrior arrived at Belfast in February 1948, transferred stores to Magnificent, and was paid off by the RCN on 23 March 1948.

After returning to British service she was used for experimental work, including trials of a rubber flight deck, later received an angled flight deck, and served as headquarters ship for nuclear tests at Christmas Island. In 1958 she was sold to Argentina and renamed ARA Independencia. She remained in Argentine service until 1970 and was sold for scrap in 1971.

HMCS WARRIOR Statistical Data

• Pendant: 31
• Type: Light Fleet Carrier
• Class: Colossus
• Displacement: 13,300 tonnes
• Length: 693.25 ft
• Width: 80.33 ft
• Draught: 23 ft
• Speed: 24 kts
• Compliment: 1200 (1370 during wartime) Officers and Crew
• Arms: 24 - 2pdrs (6xIV), 19 - 40mm
• Builder: Harland and Wolff Ltd., Belfast, Ireland
• Keel Laid: 12-Dec-42
• Date Launched: 20-May-44
• Date Commissioned: 24-Jan-46
• Paid off: 23-Mar-48

Remarks

Ex-HMS WARRIOR. Capacity of 30 aircraft.

Photos

HMCS Warrior (R31), passing under the Lions' Gate Bridge, Vancouver.

Royal Navy HMS Warrior off Gilbraltor, prior to being loaned to Canada (Wikimedia)

HMCS WARRIOR, aground on a mud bank near Pointe Sainte-Antoine, near Montreal, on 23 August 1946. (broadside view taken from shore, 14:30 hours) (Library and Archives Canada)

Keywords: HMCS WARRIOR, Royal Canadian Navy Ship, Light Fleet Carrier, Colossus Class