Established | 1978 |
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Location | Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada, at CFB Shearwater |
Coordinates | 44°37′40″N63°30′52″W / 44.62778°N 63.51444°W |
Type | Aviation museum |
Website | shearwateraviationmuseum |
The Shearwater Aviation Museum is an aviation museum located at CFB Shearwater in Shearwater, Nova Scotia. The museum acquires, conserves, organizes, researches and interprets to Canadian Forces personnel and the public at large for their study, education and enjoyment, artifacts and documents which exemplify the history of Canadian maritime military aviation.
The museum was founded in 1978 and was originally located a single floor of a barrack block. However, in August 1995 the museum reopened in a former gymnasium on the base. The museum was expanded in August 2001, with the opening of a new addition. [1]
Two CH-124s were donated by the Canadian Forces in 2018. [2]
A number of permanent exhibits are featured at the museum with maritime aviation and naval history being a key theme. Included is an exhibit about HMCS Bonaventure, Canada's last aircraft carrier. [3] The exhibit includes a reconstruction of the briefing room aboard the aircraft carrier, complete with original seats. [4] Also on display is a replica of the map wall used by the RCAF Eastern Air Command to coordinate the Battle of the Atlantic. [5]
HMCS Bonaventure was a Majestic-class aircraft carrier, the third and last aircraft carrier in service with Canada's navy. The aircraft carrier was initially ordered for construction by Britain's Royal Navy as HMS Powerful during the Second World War. Following the end of the war, construction on the ship was halted and it was not until 1952 that work began once again, this time to an altered design for the Royal Canadian Navy. The ship entered service in 1957 renamed Bonaventure and, until the vessel's decommissioning in 1970, was involved in major NATO fleet-at-sea patrols and naval exercises and participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis. During her career Bonaventure carried three hull identification numbers, RML 22, RRSM 22 and CVL 22. Following her decommissioning Bonaventure was sold for scrap and broken up in Taiwan.
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