10 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION PATROLLERS AND AIRLIFTERS
Type: Five-crew reconnaissance patrol fl ying boat
First fl ight: March 10, 1925, entered service August 1925
Powerplant: Two 502hp (374kW) Napier Lion VA piston engines
Dimensions: Span 75ft 0in (22.86m), length 51ft 1in (15.54m)
Weights: Empty 9,697lb (4,398kg), all-up 15,200lb (6,895kg)
Max speed: 108mph (174km/h) at sea level
Range: 544 miles (876km)
Armament: One .303 Lewis gun in bows and two amidships plus 1,100lb (499kg)
of bombs under the wings
Replaced: Felixstowe F.
Taken on charge: 66
Replaced by: Saro LondonSUPERMARINE SOUTHAMPTON I
S
upermarine’s Southampton was
notable not just in that it was
the first RAF flying boat to be
designed after the Great War, but
in that it went on to serve for more
than a decade; a feat only surpassed
by the Sunderland.
Designed by Supermarine’s designer
Reginald J Mitchell, the aircraft was
based on the civilian Supermarine
Swan, which had been evaluated by
the Air Ministry in 1924.
The Southampton was a two-bay
biplane powered by a pair of Napier
Lion engines. The aircraft had a
triple fin and rudder, similar to the
one used on the Swan. The early
Mk I examples had wooden hulls,1918 2018SUPERMARINE
SOUTHAMPAMPTON
1925 TO 1936
Above
Southampton S
leads a sister-ship
from 201 Squadron
in the late 1920s. The
unit had been formed
as 480 (Coastal
Reconnaissance)
Squadron but was
renamed in 1929.