Table of Contents - Griffin Books

Chapter 5

ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY SERIALS

John Alexander Griffin - 1922-2008 - Liberator Pilot, Aviation Historian, Author, Former Canadian Aviation History Society President

The Royal Canadian Navy did not develop a register or serial system of their own but rather chose to retain the serials applied to aircraft by the service of origin. When new aircraft were purchased to their specific order they occasionally bore the manufacturer's number adopted as a serial, a practice used to number some helicopters.

The exception to these practices was the allocation of serials to Canadian-produced naval aircraft. The de Havil- land-produced Trackers, and the Sea King helicopters produced by United Aircraft of Canada Ltd., both had blocks assigned which overlaid RCAF serials but only the latter were issued by the RCAF. Trackers were numbered in the 1500 series and the Sea Kings in the 4000 series.

The remaining RCN aircraft bore either their original British serials, USN, or USAF serials or adaptations of the manufacturer's number used as a serial. JA Griffin et al 1968