Shearwater History
United States Naval Air Station Halifax - (1918-1919)
U-Kreuzer 'Deutschland'
The primary reason the Americans were called into the Halifax area, was to counter U-boats such as the U-Kreuzer 'Deutschland' that attacked convoys travelling out of Halifax Harbour and from US East Coast ports.
By 1917 during the First World War the success of convoys sailing from Halifax as the western terminus for the supply line to Britain compelled the German navy to change the focus of their operations. About the same time the Germans developed large sea-going submarines, mounting six-inch guns, and capable of operating off the coast of Nova Scotia for periods of three months or more. The British Admiralty urged Canada to establish air patrols to protect the convoys sailing south of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. But Canada had no suitable aircraft and Britain had no surplus aircraft to lend. Therefore, Canada started formation of the Royal Canadian Naval Air Service to conduct air the patrols to protect the convoys. In the interim the United States agreed to extend its air patrols northward, however, two additional air stations would be required at Halifax and Sydney NS. The United States Navy would provide pilots, seaplanes and kite-balloons until the Royal Canadian Naval Air Service could take over. Canada was responsible for furnishing the site, buildings and all ground equipment.
On 15 August 1918, Lieutenant R.E. Byrd, United States Navy, (later an Admiral renowned for his polar exploits) established United States Naval Air Station Halifax at Baker’s Point on the Dartmouth side of Halifax harbour. Lieutenant Byrd assumed direct command of the station at Halifax and acted as liaison officer between the American and Canadian governments in naval aviation matters. Crates containing the first two HS-2L seaplanes arrived in Halifax by train 17 August and were barged across the harbour to the Dartmouth air station. The first aircraft was assembled and successfully test flown two days later and the first operational patrol was flown 25 August 1918; maritime patrol aviation in Canada was born.
The prefabricated hanger built close to the water to accommodate the HS-2L flying boats is still used by the base and has been declared a historic site.
Only a few months after World War One ended on 11 November 1918, the United States Navy personnel returned to the United States, donating their aircraft and equipment to the Canadian government. Royal Canadian Naval Air Service personnel who were training in England and the United States were immediately recalled and the Naval Air Service was disbanded on 5 December 1918.
Canadian Air Board Station Dartmouth - (1920-1923)
With the end of the First World War and the departure of the U.S. Navy from Baker’s Point, the Royal Canadian Navy provided caretaker service for the buildings and equipment left behind by the Americans during 1919.
On 18 February 1920 the Canadian government authorized the formation of the Canadian Air Force, which operated under the auspices of the Canadian Air Board, a government agency responsible for all aviation in Canada. While two of the three components of the Air Board had civil aviation responsibilities, the Canadian Air Force, as the third component, was charged with maintaining flying proficiency for Canadians who learned to fly during the war and training new pilots. The former U.S. Naval Air Station Halifax was reactivated as Canadian Air Board Station Dartmouth as one of six stations from which the newly formed Canadian Air Force operated.
The seaplane base at Dartmouth became the first Canadian Air Force station on the East Coast and served the Maritime Provinces as the centre of flying operations. Using HS-2L and Felixstowe F-3 flying boats, the Canadian Air Force conducted photographic flights, fisheries and forest fire patrols for government departments. Of particular note the Canadian Air Force and Air Board crews conducted the first Trans-Canada flight. Starting at Dartmouth on 7 October 1920 and using relays of aircraft and crews the flight ended in Vancouver ten days later. The flying time over the 3341mile (5568 km) route was 49 hours and seven minutes, for an average speed of 68 miles per hour (113 km per hour).
Shearwater History
Royal Canadian Air Force Station Dartmouth - (1924-1948)
On 1 April 1924 the Canadian Air Force became the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The RCAF operated from the Air Board’s six original stations; Air Board Station Dartmouth became RCAF Station Dartmouth, which was the main operating base in Eastern Canada for RCAF detachments which deployed to remote locations throughout the Maritime Provinces. Vickers Varuna and Curtiss HS-2L flying boat detachments from RCAF Dartmouth photographed vast areas of the Maritimes, transported officials to inaccessible regions, patrolled forests and fishing grounds, assisted in the suppression of smuggling and illegal immigration and flew sick and injured traders, trappers, farmers and Indians from remote outposts to places where medical attention was available.
On 1 April 1925 the RCAF inaugurated its first four operational squadrons with No. 4 (Operations) Squadron being formed at Dartmouth to conduct the RCAF’s tasking in the Maritime Provinces. On 1 July 1927 the RCAF’s four squadrons were disbanded and all flying came under control of the Directorate of Civil Government Air Operations which was commanded, administered and staffed by RCAF officers. The worldwide depression in the early 1930’s drastically reduced all flying at Dartmouth to the point where the base was administered by the local militia commander.
Regularly organized flying did not return to Dartmouth until 1932 when the RCAF formed a detachment at Dartmouth to provide aerial patrols to assist the RCMP in detecting illegal rum runners. In 1933, as Canada recovered from the depression RCAF squadrons began to reappear. No.5 (Flying Boat) Squadron, the RCAF's second post-depression squadron, formed at Dartmouth on 16 April 1934 by consolidating the five RCAF detachments in the Maritimes, which were previously controlled from Ottawa. Commencing in 1935, No 5 Squadron was under command of the Station Commander of RCAF Dartmouth, which again became a fully active air station.
As Eastern Air Command’s most important base during the Second World War RCAF Station Dartmouth played a pivotal role in the Battle of the Atlantic protecting convoys of merchant ships from German U-boat “Wolf Packs”. Being the largest seaplane and landplane base in eastern Canada, Dartmouth was home at one time or another to nine RCAF long-range Bomber-Reconnaissance squadrons, whose Stranraer, Digby, Hudson, Catalina, Canso and Liberator aircraft flew thousands of hours on anti-submarine and convoy escort patrols over the north west Atlantic and Gulf of St. Lawrence. In fact, the RCAF’s first mission of the Second World War was flown from RCAF Station Dartmouth on 10 September 1939 by a 5 Squadron Stranraer flying boat tasked to conduct a search for enemy ships off Halifax harbour. In January 1944, 162 Squadron transferred from RCAF Station Dartmouth to Reykjavik, Iceland where it became the RCAF’s most successful anti-submarine squadron during WW II, sinking six U-boats.
Similarly, a total of six RCAF Fighter (F) squadrons equipped with Goblin, Kittyhawk and Hurricane aircraft were based at RCAF Station Dartmouth to protect Canada’s Atlantic approaches and Halifax’s strategic harbour from air attack. In 1940 Dartmouth’s 127 (F) Squadron was transferred to England and renumbered to 401 (F) Squadron where it became the RCAF’s highest scoring fighter squadron in WW II. In May 1941, the RCAF built the first radar station in North America at Preston NS, about ten kilometers north of Dartmouth, to detect enemy aircraft and direct the Dartmouth based fighters to their targets.
RCAF Station Dartmouth also formed its own Marine Squadron to service the flying boats at their anchorages in Eastern Passage. The Marine Squadron soon expanded to provide detachments at other seaplane bases in Nova Scotia, Gaspé and Newfoundland. The Marine Squadron also provided search and rescue for downed aircraft or torpedoed ships and had its own fleet of supply ships to build and deliver supplies to the RCAF’s radar sites along the remote coasts of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador. The Marine Squadron also had a diving section to recover sunken aircraft and assist the Navy in searching the hulls of ships in harbour for sabotage explosives.
Royal Naval Air Section
Since Halifax was the western terminus for most Atlantic convoys, the British established HMS Seaborn, a Royal Naval Air Section (RNAS) lodger unit, at RCAF Station Dartmouth in September 1940. The RNAS was under the full jurisdiction of the Royal Navy, however, the RCAF provided a hanger and administrative buildings. The initial role for HMS Seaborn was to provide a shore base for Swordfish and Walrus aircraft assigned to ships of the Royal Navy’s Third Battle Squadron. However, as the convoy system gained momentum HMS Seaborn’s prime role was reassembling replacement Swordfish aircraft for the Merchant Aircraft Carriers. The RNAS also provided maintenance and shelter for Fleet Air Arm aircraft while disembarked from their parent Escort Aircraft Carriers and Merchant Aircraft Carriers docked in Halifax harbour. After the end of the Second World War HMS Seaborn was disbanded in January 1946.
Royal Canadian Naval Air Section Dartmouth
Formation of the Royal Canadian Naval Air Arm was approved on 19 December 1945. On 31 March 1946, the first cadre of Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Seafire and Firefly aircraft disembarked from the RCN’s first aircraft carrier, HMCS Warrior, and first landed on Canadian soil at RCAF Station Dartmouth. Through a joint RCAF-RCN agreement the RCN aircraft and personnel were accommodated in RCAF post-war surplus hangers and buildings that constituted the Royal Canadian Naval Air Section (RCNAS). The RCNAS provided a shore base for RCN 803, 825, 826 and 883 Squadron aircraft when not embarked on the aircraft carrier. The RCAF-RCN landlord-tenant arrangement was terminated in December 1948.
Shearwater History (1948-1968)
HMCS Shearwater - (Royal Canadian Naval Air Station Shearwater) - (1948-1968)
Fixed Wing Aircraft
As the fourth largest air force in the world during the Second World War the RCAF was in the process of downsizing to its peacetime compliment in the post-war era. This included reducing the infrastructure and personnel at RCAF Station Dartmouth. However, the reductions conflicted with the RCN’s fledgling Naval Air Arm which was building up to its authorized strength. Therefore, on 1 December 1948 the RCAF turned the air station over the RCN, which according to naval custom renamed the air station HMCS Shearwater; also known as Royal Canadian Naval Air Station Shearwater.
Building on the foundation established by the RCNAS, Shearwater became the new home for 803 and 883 Squadrons, equipped with Seafire aircraft and 825 and 826 squadrons flying Firefly aircraft. The sole purpose of Shearwater was to provide a shore base to support flying operations aboard the RCN’s aircraft carriers. Also, No. 1 Training Air Group comprising 743 Fleet Requirements Unit and an Operational Flying Training School provided trained aircrew for the operational squadrons. Similarly, a Naval Stores Depot and the School of Naval Aircraft Maintenance provided spares and trained aircraft technicians.
In March 1948, HMCS Warrior was paid off and replaced by HMCS Magnificent, which arrived with the first batch of Hawker Sea Fury aircraft to replace the obsolete Seafires on 803 and 883 Squadrons. In 1950, the Firefly aircraft on 825 and 826 Squadrons proved to be unsuitable for the anti-submarine role that Canada agreed would be the RCN’s specialty after becoming a signatory to the 1949 NATO agreement. Consequently, the Fireflies were replaced by Grumman Avenger aircraft purchased from the US Navy. In 1955, the acquisition of eight Airborne Early Warning Avengers brought the total number of Avengers to 125, the most numerous type of aircraft in the RCN’s history.
In 1951, the squadrons were renumbered to better identify Canadian formations within the Commonwealth numbering system. Accordingly, the fighter squadrons, 803 and 883 were renumbered 870 and 871 respectively, while the anti-submarine squadrons, 825 and 826, became 880 and 881 respectively. As Canadian naval aviation became more closely entwined with the US Navy in continental defence, the Air Arm adopted the US Navy letter prefixes to squadron numbers in November 1952. Hence 870 and 871 Squadrons became VF 870 and VF 871, with “VF” indicating a fixed wing fighter squadron while 880 and 881 Squadrons were redesignated VS 880 and VS 881, with “VS” identifying fixed wing anti-submarine squadrons. In the same process FRU 743 became a fixed wing utility squadron designated VU 32.
Shearwater ushered in the jet age in January 1955 with the arrival of the first T-33 Silver Star jet training aircraft, loaned from the RCAF. In November 1955 the first of 39 McDonnell Banshees, purchased from the US Navy, arrived at Shearwater to replace the Sea Furies on VF 870 and VF 871 Squadrons. In 1959, VF 871 was absorbed into VF 870, which flew the Banshees from the aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure until September 1962 when the Naval Air Arm’s first and last jet fighter was retired without replacement.
In October 1956, the first of 100 deHavilland-built Grumman Tracker aircraft arrived at Shearwater. The first version of the Tracker, the CS2F-1, was delivered to VS 881 in February 1957 and the squadron embarked in the newly arrived aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure in September 1957.
VS 880 received her Trackers in October 1957. After conversion training that squadron embarked in HMCS Bonaventure for their first Tracker operations in January 1959.
The following July, VS 881merged with VS 880 to form the RCN's sole ASW squadron and the largest squadron in the Commonwealth with 24 operational CS2F-1's and 450 personnel. With the demise of HMCS Bonaventure as an aircraft carrier in 1968 the Tracker was re-rolled as a land based maritime reconnaissance aircraft and VS 880 was redesignated a Maritime Reconnaissance squadron, MR 880. Tracker operations ceased at Shearwater in the summer of 1981 when MR 880 was transferred to Summerside PEI. The Tracker was finally retired in 1990, 34 years after the first flight of the Canadian built CS2F.
Rotary Wing Aircraft
In August 1951, the RCN’s first helicopters, three Bell HTL-4’s, were delivered to Shearwater and assigned to the newly formed No. 1 Helicopter Flight. The HTL-4’s roles included search and rescue, aerial photography, recovering ships’ practice torpedoes and light transport. The RCN also required the HTL’s for the newly commissioned icebreaker HMCS Labrador for ice reconnaissance. Later the RCN took an additional five HTL-6’s on strength, which were used to train fixed-wing pilots who were to fly the larger HO4S helicopter in utility roles.
In April 1952, the helicopter inventory at HMCS Shearwater expanded with No. 1 Helicopter Flight taking delivery of three Sikorsky HO4S-2’s. These helicopters were used primarily as a plane guard during flight operations from the aircraft carriers. On 1 December 1952 the helicopter strength had increased to the point where No. 1 Helicopter Flight was elevated to squadron status and designated VH 21.
In 1954, a third type of utility helicopter was added to VH 21’s inventory when a number of ex-U.S. Army Piasecki HUP-3’s were taken on strength at Shearwater. In April 1955, VH 21 was redesignated Helicopter Utility Squadron 21 (HU 21) to better reflect its role. The HUP-3’s, flown by HU 21, were intended primarily for use aboard the ice breaker HMCS Labrador to provide a heavy (900 pound - 408 kg) lift capability. When not embarked on the icebreaker the HUP-3’s were used for search and rescue and general naval utility as well as providing support to other government departments.
On 4 July 1955, a new helicopter squadron, HS 50, was formed at Shearwater to provide a rotary wing anti-submarine capability for the aircraft carrier, HMCS Magnificent. HS 50 was initially equipped with six HO4S’s, which were fitted with dipping sonar and carried depth charges and homing torpedoes. HS 50 was tasked to further study the use of helicopters in anti-submarine warfare by investigating the feasibility of operating helicopters from small destroyers. In 1958 the trials culminated with the first landing of an HS 50 HO4S-3 aboard a St. Laurent class destroyer. The HO4S’s from Shearwater successfully pioneered what may be one of the most important innovations in naval aviation, the operation of helicopters from the small flight decks on destroyers. Navies around the world including those of the United States and Britain adopted the concept.
In May 1963 the first of 41 Sea King helicopters arrived at Shearwater to replace the HO4S. The Sea King served with HS 50, HU 21, and VX 10, the squadron responsible for engineering development and testing. The Sea King operated at sea from both the aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure and from helicopter-destroyer escorts (DDH’s). The carrier normally embarked four to six Sea Kings along with the normal complement of Trackers and a single HO4S plane guard. The St. Laurent and Annapolis class DDH’s carried one helicopter whereas the larger Tribal Class DDH’s accommodated two Sea Kings.
Shearwater continued as the home of naval fixed and rotary wing aviation until 1968 when Canada’s armed forces were unified.
Shearwater History (1968 - 1993)
Canadian Forces Base Shearwater - 1968-1993
On 1 February 1968 Canada’s navy, army and air force were unified into a single service. Under the new organization HMCS Shearwater was renamed Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Shearwater and placed under the command of Maritime Command where it’s role remained unchanged. The base was reorganized in September 1971 with many of the Shearwater aircrew training functions previously conducted by the utility squadrons consolidated into a single operational training squadron. On 12 July 1972 the new Maritime Operational Training Squadron was designated VT 406 to carry on the proud lineage of the RCAF’s 406 Squadron which distinguished itself as a night fighter squadron during WW II. VT 406 was responsible for training pilots, navigators, observers and technicians for both the Tracker and Sea King as well as training in: sea survival, underwater acoustics and operation of the flight and tactical simulators. When the operational Tracker squadron, MR 880, was transferred from CFB Shearwater to CFB Summerside PEI in the summer of 1981, it absorbed the Tracker training function and 406 Squadron was redesigned HT 406, responsible only for Sea King aircrew and technician training.
Despite the demise of HMCS Bonaventure, the proliferation of Sea King air detachments on the helicopter carrying destroyers (DDH’s) and Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) ships extended the span of command and control beyond the capabilities of the single squadron. Therefore, it was decided to split HS 50, the single large helicopter anti-submarine squadron, into two smaller operational squadrons. On 3 September1974, HS 50 was deactivated and two former RCAF squadrons with proud WW II lineages were reactivated at CFB Shearwater as HS 423 and HS 443.
On 2 September 1975 all Canadian Forces aviation was placed under the command of the newly formed Air Command with its headquarters in Winnipeg. Subsequently CFB Shearwater came under the jurisdiction of Air Command with command and control delegated to Maritime Air Group Headquarters in Halifax.
In 1979, the Helicopter Operational Test and Evaluation Facility (HOTEF) was formed at CFB Shearwater to conduct development and testing of operational changes to the Sea King. At any time HOTEF may be conducting up to several hundred operational evaluations ranging from a simple test of a new hoist to the complex integration of computer based avionics systems.
In response to the growing requirement for helicopter-carrying destroyers on Canada's Pacific Coast, HS 443 Squadron was transferred to Pat Bay BC in July 1989. Although, providing helicopter support to Maritime Command Pacific, HS 443 Squadron remained under command of CFB Shearwater to provide centralized control of all of Canada's Sea King helicopters.
In August 1990, CFB Shearwater supported five Sea Kings, embarked on the DDH HMCS Athabaskan and the AOR HMCS Protecteur, in the Persian Gulf War dubbed “Operation Friction”. The Sea Kings were tasked to interdict unauthorized merchant vessels in the Gulf, protect the vital logistic sea lines, and search for mines.
On 3 September 1992, VU 32 was disbanded and its assets absorbed by 434 (Bluenose) Squadron, which was reactivated at CFB Shearwater as a Combat Support Squadron. Flying CT-133 Silver Stars and CE-144 Challengers, the squadron’s primary role was to provide air targets and electronic warfare support for other air force fighter squadrons, naval ships and army anti-aircraft batteries. No. 434 Challengers also flew maritime reconnaissance patrols, partly compensating for the loss of the Tracker in that role. In May 1995, 434 Squadron was transferred to Greenwood NS, contributing to the downsizing of Shearwater, which became solely involved with Sea King operations.
Shearwater History - 12 Wing Shearwater (1993-Present)
With the demise of the cold war in the early 1990’s, the number of personnel and budgets were dramatically reduced in the Department of National Defence. To preserve the air force’s core capabilities, Air Command established the “Wing” concept to identify the minimum level of resources required to perform the roles and missions the government had assigned. The Wing is the air force’s basic fighting unit capable of independent, sustained operations. A Wing consists of one or more air squadrons, supported by operations, maintenance, administration and logistics squadrons. A Wing is capable of deploying to a remote unprepared base and have sufficient resources to upgrade the site infrastructure (buildings, electricity, plumbing, communications, runways) and establish a mechanism for the replenishment of consumables such as food and fuel in order to conduct sustained operations. In 1993, the core capabilities residing at the former CFB Shearwater were designated 12 Wing Shearwater, drawing on the former RCAF Station Dartmouth’s historical link with 12 Group of Eastern Air Command in Halifax during WW II.
With demise of the cold war, Shearwater's Sea King squadrons were becoming more involved in support to other government departments and peacekeeping operations and specializing less in anti-submarine warfare. Therefore, the squadron prefix HS indicating Helicopter Anti-submarine was changed to the MH, Maritime Helicopter, designation to better reflect the Sea Kings general-purpose maritime reconnaissance role. Consequently, HS 432 and HS 443 became MH 423 and MH 443 respectively in 1994.
In 1996, as a Department of National Defence cost reduction measure 12 Wing Shearwater ceased to exist as an independent entity and became a lodger unit of CFB Halifax. As such, Air Command (Ottawa) through 1 Canadian Air Division (Winnipeg) exercises command and control of 12 Wing Shearwater, but all administrative and logistic support is provided by CFB Halifax.
Post Cold War Operations:
Since 1963 Shearwater has supported Canadian Sea King operations around the world. Until the demise of the Cold War, the Sea King helicopter was primarily used to extend the anti-submarine capabilities of the ships on which they were embarked. However, during the first Persian Gulf War in 1990-91, the Sea King also proved to be very capable in a myriad of peacekeeping/peacemaking roles. Because of the Sea Kings’ flexibility and capability to operate from ships, Shearwater has played the leading role in supporting Sea King participation in almost all of Canada’s humanitarian, peacekeeping and peacemaking operations since 1991. These operations include: OP FRICTION 1990-91: Persian Gulf; maritime interdiction and mine countermeasures;We wish to pass our thanks to the Shearwater Aviation Museum for making this information available.
Updated: June 7, 2005