Jo Hillman - Supermarine Southampton

SUPERMARINE SOUTHAMPTON

Jo Hillman & Colin Higgs

SUPERMARINE SOUTHAMPTON

The Flying Boat that Made RJ Mitchell

First published in Great Britain in 2020 by Air World Books,

an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd,

Yorkshire Philadelphia

Copyright Jo Hillman and Colin Higgs

ISBN: 978-1-52678-494-0

ePUB ISBN: 978-1-52678-495-7

Mobi ISBN: 978-1-52678-496-4

The right of Jo Hillman and Colin Higgs to be identified as Authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved.

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Dedicated to the memory of Dick Hillman

The photographs are the star of the book and we have let them lead in the construction and narration of the content. Whilst we try to include a historical framework, it is the pictures that tell the story.

The majority of the photographs come from the authors collections. As always BAE Systems Heritage has been extremely helpful and in certain cases we have stated the copyright owners or sources of certain images in their captions. Accurate and detailed information on the Southamptons development, production and history is often sketchy and sometimes conflicting. CF Andrews and EB Morgans book Supermarine Aircraft since 1914 (Putnam) is the seminal work on the aircraft and has been our entry into the world of the Southampton. In addition, the ADF-Serials website - www.adf-serials.com . au was an invaluable source of information for the two Royal Australian Air Force Southamptons while the RAF Museum Hendon website rafmuseum. org.uk - provided detailed information on the only surviving aircraft N9899. The Supermarine magazine advertisements were provided by The Aviation Ancestry Database of British Aviation Advertisements 1909-1990 - www.aviationancestry.co.uk .

The Supermarine Southampton was the first in a series of successful RAF aircraft designed by RJ Mitchell and built by Supermarine. It was the first flying boat designed and entered into RAF service after the First World War and was one of the most successful flying boats during the inter-war period. Production began in late 1924 and its RAF service began with 480 (Coastal Reconnaissance) Flight in August 1925 continuing in service until 1935 making it the second longest serving RAF flying boat behind the Short Sunderland.

Throughout the 1920s the RAF was trying to maintain its place as an independent service alongside the British Army and Royal Navy. Therefore the Southampton quickly became the Air Ministrys star turn as the aircraft was employed in flag flying displays around the country and abroad culminating in the impressive, and ambitious for the time, long-distance formation flight to the Far East and Australia. These displays served not only to showcase RAF capabilities but, in the case of the Far East Flight, provided a route-proving function to open up Empire routes and gather information on potential seaplane bases, harbours, and local conditions that could affect aircraft operation.

RJ Mitchell constantly worked on the development and improvement of the Southampton and its variants, the Scapa and Stranraer, as well as working on the Supermarine racing aircraft. The success of the Far East Flight and winning the Schneider Trophy in 1927 not only raised Supermarines profile as a major aircraft manufacturer but also paved the way to the design of what would become the iconic hero of the Battle of Britain and the Second World War the Spitfire.

Supermarine was originally founded as Pemberton-Billing Ltd in June 1914 by aviator and inventor Noel Pemberton-Billing. Convinced of the potential for powered aviation he had embarked on a few projects including trying to open an aerodrome and later a flying field both in Essex before establishing the small aircraft company at Oakbank Wharf, Woolston with Hubert Scott-Paine as works manager. Its telegraphic address was Supermarine, Southampton. When Pemberton-Billing was elected as an MP in 1916 the factory was sold to the factory Manager Hubert Scott- Paine who adopted the telegraphic address and renamed the company Supermarine Aviation Works.

The first aircraft built by Pemberton-Billing Ltd was the PB-1 a single-seat, open cockpit flying boat. Pemberton-Billings aim was to build a boat which would fly rather than an aircraft that would float. Unfortunately, the PB-1 never achieved flight, managing at best just a short hop.

The company struggled during the war years but managed to stay afloat by repairing aircraft subcontracted from Sopwith and by building Short seaplanes and Norman Thompson NT2B trainers under licence. In 1916 they were awarded a contract to build the flying surfaces of the AD Flying Boat and, at the end of the war, purchased a number of these aircraft and re-built them as civil transports known as the Supermarine Channel. In response to the Admiraltys requirement for a single- seat biplane seaplane the company designed and built the Supermarine Baby.

British Admiralty Air Department AD Flying Boat outside Supermarine Works c.1916 (IM James)

Supermarine re-built the AD Flying Boat as a Type C Channel Flying Boat with accommodation for a pilot and three passengers in three open cockpits and, once the ban on civil aviation was lifted in 1919, three of these flying boats began operation from Southampton. (BAE Systems)