When the RCN decided to build the two Queen Charlotte-class carriers to replace the Colossus-class HMCS Bonaventure
Tell me more...please.
Well, first off, I made a mistake - the original Bonnie was a modified Majestic class, not Colossus, but that's by the by...
In 1960 the RCN decided to replace Bonnie with two new-built carriers. Studies led to the selection in 1962 of a design based on the design of the American Forrestal-class supercarrier. However, it was decided that the 60,000+ ton size of the Forrestal was a little bit beyond what the RCN could either handle or need, so a reduced-size version of the design was developed as a major cooperative effort between Versatile Vickers in Montreal, Davie Shipbuilding in Lévis, Yarrows Ltd. in Esquimalt (BC) and Burrard Dry Dock in North Vancouver (BC), along with the cooperation of the Norfolk Navy Yard, the builders of the USS Forrestal. By 1964 the design was finalised, and the shipyards at North Vancouver and Lévis were expanded in 1964-65 to handle the 48,900 ton bulk of the new carriers. The keels were laid in 1966 -
HMCS Queen Charlotte, named after the Queen Charlotte Islands, as the lead ship at Burrard Dry Dock <<non sequitur, this just made me realise that the North Vancouver waterfront and Lower Lonsdale/Esplanade area would be IMMENSELY different in AltCan!>>, and the second
HMCS Bonaventure at Davie.
Queenie was launched in May 1970 and commissioned into the RCN June 1971 as the flagship of the Pacific Fleet. A month later, the original Bonnie was decommissioned. The new Bonnie was launched in October 1970 and commissioned in July 1971 as flagship of the Atlantic fleet.
These ships can carry up to 72 aircraft operationally; at present, the standard air wing consists of 70 aircraft - 36 CF-201N Seafire II fighters in two squadrons, 8 CEF-110N Spirit combat jammers, 4 CE-121 Hawkeye AEW and 6 CP-170 Viking ASW aircraft, 4 CC-121A Greyhound transport aircraft, along with 8 CH-148 ASW and 4 CH-148 minesweeping helicopters.
Both saw service in Vietnam, Bonnie took part in the Falklands War, Operation Allied Force (Yugoslavia 1999) and the Libyan intervention of 2011, while Queenie took part in the first Gulf War/Operation Friction and in the initial phase of the operations in Afghanistan in 2001.
Queenie is to be decommissioned in 2014 and Bonnie in 2015, to be replaced by the new Magnificent-class CVNs under construction (HMCS Magnificent is to be launched in July of this year and scheduled to commission in 2015, the third Bonnie is to commission in 2016, and the second Queenie in 2020). If of interest, I can give more info on the Maggie, too...