HMCS Magnificent

HMCS Magnificent circa 1950.
History
United Kingdom
NameMagnificent
Ordered16 October 1942
BuilderHarland and Wolff, Belfast
Yard number1228
Laid down29 July 1943
Launched16 November 1944
FateLoaned to Canada, 1948
Canada
NameMagnificent
AcquiredJanuary 1945
Commissioned21 March 1948
Decommissioned14 June 1957
Stricken1961
HomeportHalifax, Nova Scotia
IdentificationCVL 21
Motto"We stand on guard"[1]
Nickname(s)"The Maggie"
Honours and
awards
  • The Saints 1782
  • Dardanelles 1915[1]
FateReturned to UK, scrapped in Faslane, July 1965
BadgePurpure, a sun in splendour or on which a maple leaf gules[1]
General characteristics
Class and typeMajestic-class aircraft carrier
Displacement15,700 long tons (16,000 t)
Length698 ft (212.8 m)
Beam80 ft (24.4 m)
Draught25 ft (7.6 m)
Propulsion4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, Parsons geared steam turbines, 40,000 shp (30,000 kW)
Speed24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Complement1,100 (including air group)
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
Aircraft carried37 - Fairey Firefly and Hawker Sea Fury

HMCS Magnificent (CVL 21) was a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier that served the Royal Canadian Navy from 1948–1957. Initially ordered by the Royal Navy during World War II, the Royal Canadian Navy acquired the Magnificent while waiting for another aircraft carrier to be completed to their needs and it entered service in 1948 replacing in service HMCS Warrior which had been loaned for two years by the RN.

Magnificent was generally referred to as Maggie in Canadian service. In 1956, Canada received HMCS Bonaventure and Magnificent returned to the United Kingdom in 1956, where it remained in reserve until being scrapped in 1965.

  1. ^ a b c Arbuckle 1987, p. 63.