Bonaventure evolved from a fighter and anti-submarine carrier into a highly active anti-submarine-warfare platform. Her mixed air group combined Banshee fighters with fixed-wing ASW aircraft and ASW helicopters. The two anti-submarine components offered complementary ways to search for and prosecute submarines beyond the immediate reach of surface escorts. In Canadian exercises, that aviation component gave the escort force mobile overwatch and a visible centrepiece.
Chapter · 28:32-30:20
Bonaventure as Canada's anti-submarine centrepiece
Bonaventure paired fighters, anti-submarine aircraft, and helicopters to give Canadian escort forces distant surveillance and anti-submarine support.