Maggie delivers peacekeepers to the Suez Canal
On Jan. 12, 1957, HMCS Magnificent arrived at Port Said, Egypt, delivering Canadian peacekeepers for the UN Emergency Force policing the Suez Crisis.
Light aircraft carriers built in Britain during the Second World War, Magnificent and HMCS Warrior were earmarked for Canada, in anticipation of an expanded role in the Pacific. Only one carrier was required after the war ended and Warrior was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1946.
After the war, Canada signed the NATO agreement, pledged to an anti-submarine role. An aircraft carrier also increased the navy’s capability in the air defence of North America, including the Arctic, at the beginning of the Cold War. But Warrior, a Colossus-class vessel, was not designed for cold climate operations and was exchanged for the Majestic-class Magnificent in 1948.
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