HMCS Eagle (CV-23)

The HMCS Eagle (CV-23) was an Audacious-class aircraft carrier in service in the Royal Navy (1951-1972) and later the Canadian Forces Maritime Command (1975-1995). In Canadian service, the Eagle has served in Cyprus (1976), Lebanon (1983-1984), Iraq (1990-1991), South Africa (1992), and Kobe, Japan (1995).

1990s
After years of tension, Iraq invaded its small neighbor Kuwait on August 2, 1990, kicking off the first Gulf War. The Iraqi initial victory was very swift, and so was an American response. On August 7, the Americans began moving forces into Saudi Arabia to protect against an Iraqi attack into Saudi territory. Canada quickly followed suit, and deployed HMCS Eagle in her first real conflict since the violence on Cyprus in 1977. Eagle and its battle group including its escort vessels Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, Huron, Halifax and Terra Nova and supply ships Protecteur and Provider - arrived on station in the Red Sea on September 16, 1990, having also escorted four of the United States' eight fast sealift ships from the Mid-Atlantic all the way to Saudi Arabia. During the war, Eagle would lose two Corsairs and a Hornet to the Iraqi military. HMCS Eagle and her battle group arrived in Halifax on April 25, 1991, to a crowd of nearly 40,000 people.

On June 2, 1992, Mulroney orders the Eagle battle group to South Africa, expecting trouble from all sides to the landing of troops. HMCS Eagle is joined by HMS Ark Royal, HMAS Australia and American carriers Nimitz, George Washington, John F. Kennedy and Independence, along with battleship USS Missouri, whose planned retirement had been halted due to the need for gunfire support. The landing at Cape Town on June 28, 1992, met stiff resistance mostly from SADF units, but shortly after the landings the SADF gave in and ordered a cease-fire, with it going into effect on July 1 at 12:01 am. The ANC, however, does not negotiate a cease-fire and continues fighting, forcing allied forces to separate the two.

In August 1992, UNMISA operations for the CF Maritime Command come to an abrupt end on August 11, 1992, after a malfunctioning rocket causes a giant explosion on Eagle 's flight deck, and subsequent explosions seriously damage her engines and rip open a 25-foot-wide hole in the hull, fortunately well above the waterline. The disaster is by a massive margin the greatest peacetime loss ever for the CF, as 121 sailors and airmen are KIA or MIA from the disaster, and 215 injuries are tallied. Dead in the water, American fleet tug Powhatan tows Eagle home, while her vessels join the other UNMISA forces before themselves being called home on August 24.

The disaster aboard Eagle is a major confidence-shaker for the MARCOM, made worse by the Liberals insisting that the seriously-damaged carrier now has no usage in the post-Cold War era and that she should be decommissioned and scrapped. This, however, does not help the Liberals in the 1993 elections, as this decision comes to haunt the opposition. Mulroney, seeing the opportunity, cranks up a public debate by holding off on a decision to repair Eagle while she is brought home and damage is assessed. Polls, however, see an aircraft carrier as an indispensable tool to assisting the Canadian Forces in their operations around the world. But Eagle ' s damage is immense - a massive hole in the flight deck, engines seriously damaged, the hull's integrity being questioned by naval architects. The Canadian government decides to repair the Eagle which keeps it out of service until 1994. Also the government looks into replacing the aging Audacious-class carrier. The Eagle 's final mission is in 1995 when it is involved in operations in Japan after the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. It is finally decommissioned on March 26, 1995 and becomes a museum ship in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Specifications

 * Type: Aircraft Carrier (Hull designation symbol CV)
 * Rebuilders: Saint John Shipbuilding, Saint John, New Brunswick
 * Launched: August 4, 1975
 * Commissioned: November 11, 1975
 * Decommissioned: March 26, 1995
 * Characteristics
 * Length: 835.8 feet (254,752 meters)
 * Width: 171 feet (52.121 meters)
 * Height: 36 feet (10.973 meters)
 * Displacement: 55,000 tons
 * Crew: 1,520
 * Maximum Speed: 33.4 Knots (39.24 Mile/Hour) (63.15 Kilometers/Hour)
 * Propulsion: 4 x shaft geared steam turbines, 8 x boilers (174,800 shp)
 * Range: 8,200 nautical miles at 20 knots
 * Speed: 33.4 knots
 * Sensor Suite
 * AN/SPS-48E Air Search Radar
 * AN/SPS-49 Air Search Radar
 * AN/SPQ-9 Target Acquisition Radar
 * AN/SLQ-25 Nixie Torpedo Countermeasures Suite
 * AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite
 * AN/SPN-41 Landing Aid Radar
 * AN/SPN-43C Air Traffic Control Radar
 * AN/SPN-46 Air Traffic Control Radar
 * AN/SQS-53 Sonar
 * AN/SPS-55 Surface Search Radar
 * Armament
 * 1 x 20mm Phalanx CIWS
 * 1 x 8-cell Mark 25 Sea Sparrow Missile Launcher

1975-1983

 * 30 x CF-174 Phantom II
 * 4 x CE-121 Tracer
 * 8 x CP-121 Tracker
 * 6 x CH-124 Sea King

1984-1995

 * 18 x CF-188 Hornet
 * 20 x CF-187 Corsair II
 * 2 x CE-2C Hawkeye
 * 4 x CP-121 Tracker
 * 4 x CH-124 Sea King