The Seaplane Experimental Station, formerly RNAS

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, containe ...

, was a British aircraft design unit during the early part of the 20th century.

Creation

During June 1912, surveys began for a suitable site for a base for Naval hydro-aeroplanes, with at first Shotley or Mistley on the River Stour. Ultimately Felixstowe was chosen and the formation of the new Naval Air Station, along with another at

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

was announced in April 1913, to be developed along the lines of the station already established on the

Isle of Grain Isle of Grain (Old English ''Greon'', meaning gravel) is a village and the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula within the unitary authority, district of Medway in Kent, south-east England. Once an island and now forming part of the peninsul ...

. The unit at Felixstowe was commissioned 5 August 1913 on the

River Orwell The River Orwell flows through the county of Suffolk in England from Ipswich to Felixstowe. Above Ipswich, the river is known as the River Gipping, but its name changes to the Orwell at Stoke Bridge, about half a mile below where the river beco ...

at Landguard under the command of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

C. E. Risk, RM as Seaplanes, Felixstowe followed by

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

C. E. H. Rathborne, RN in 1914 and Lieutenant-Commander

John Cyril Porte Lieutenant Colonel John Cyril Porte, (26 February 1884 – 22 October 1919) was a British flying boat aviation pioneer, pioneer associated with the First World War Seaplane Experimental Station at Felixstowe. Early life and career Porte was b ...

, RN 1915. RNAS Felixstowe was created soon after the outbreak of World War I following the formation of the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

1 July 1914, from the Naval Wing of the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

(RFC). Three large hangars 300 feet long and 200 feet wide, with

slipways A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a Inclined plane, ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and ...

were built by

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

engineers

Boulton & Paul Boulton & Paul Ltd was a British general manufacturer from Norwich, England that became involved in aircraft manufacture. Jeld Wen Inc. bought Boulton & Paul (along with another joinery company John Carr) from the Rugby Group plc in 1999 to ...

and

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

paint schemes applied; the base would become the largest operational seaplane station in the United Kingdom.

Operation

As the name implies, the unit designed

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...

s and

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

s. These were generally known by the Felixstowe name although, apart from the prototypes, these flying boats were built by aircraft manufacturers such as

Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...

, Dick, Kerr & Co. and Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company (the latter two forming part of

English Electric The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes. It initially specialised in industrial el ...

in 1918–1919). Upon Porte's recommendation, the station was initially equipped with Curtiss flying boats. He improved their hull designs, before developing the Felixstowe flying boats from those experiments. Many Felixstowe boats were built under licence in the USA. The craft were flown on long-range patrols to spot the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

High Seas Fleet The High Seas Fleet () was the battle fleet of the German Empire, German Imperial German Navy, Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. In February 1907, the Home Fleet () was renamed the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpi ...

and

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155� ...

s, with many based at RNAS Felixstowe. A seaplane carrier, HMS ''Vindex'' based at Felixstowe, planned to operate against the Zeppelins; the aircraft, two Bristol Scouts, took off from a short improvised runway on the forward deck. The station also serviced aircraft of the carriers ''

Engadine Engadine may refer to: Places * Engadin(e), a valley region in Switzerland * Engadine, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia *Engadine, Michigan Engadine ( ) is an unincorporated community in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

'' and ''

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

''. On 24 April 1916 trials were run in conjunction with the Submarine Service at Parkeston Quay to test the carriage and launching of 2 Sopwith Schneider seaplanes carried on the deck of submarine E22. E22 was sunk the following day off

by German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

SM ''UB-18''. To begin with the flying boats had little success against U-boats until the introduction of the "

Spider web A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb (from the archaic word ''Wikt:coppe, coppe'', meaning 'spider') is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey ...

" system of patrolling. The patrols capitalised on the practice of U-boats signalling by

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transm ...

their homing position, which could be picked up by wireless stations at

Hunstanton Hunstanton (sometimes pronounced ) is a seaside resort, seaside town in Norfolk, England, which had a population of 4,229 at the 2011 Census. It faces west across The Wash. Hunstanton lies 102 miles (164 km) north-north-east of London an ...

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

and Birchington. The "Spider Web" used the North Hinder Light Vessel, a Dutch maintained light ship 55

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a imperial unit, British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of Unit of length, le ...

s from Felixstowe and the

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland (, ) is a coastal village in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was in use before the word ''wikt:kaap#Dutch, kaap'' – "cape". The English translation using Hook is a false cognate of t ...

as a centre point. An octagonal figure was drawn with eight arms radiating out from a distance of 30 miles from the centre. A set of circumvential lines then joined the radial arms at 10, 20 and 30 miles making eight sectors, each sector divided into three sections. As the patrolling flying boat flew up and down each sector line, the area was surveyed twice on any patrol and two sectors of the web could be patrolled in under five

hour An hour (symbol: h; also abbreviated hr) is a unit of time historically reckoned as of a day and defined contemporarily as exactly 3,600 seconds ( SI). There are 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in a day. The hour was initially establis ...

s. A flying boat would take off from Felixstowe and head for the North Hinder Light Vessel then fly along a sector line, determined by previous instructions gained from wireless plots, and then along the patrol lines of the sector. "Web" patrols commenced 13 April 1917. To increase the range of the aircraft, experiments were carried out in the launch and retrieval of flying boats and bi-planes from specially designed lighters towed behind destroyers of the

Harwich Force The Harwich Force originally called Harwich Striking Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War and based in Harwich. It played a significant role in the war. History After the outbreak of the First World War, it ...

. On the formation of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

1 April 1918, the unit was renamed the Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe and disbanded in June 1919.

Successor

The base and its facilities were later used by the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment from 1 April 1924 until the Second World War. It was also used as a base by the

Schneider Trophy The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded first annually, and later biennially, to the winner of a race for seaplanes and ...

team, the High Speed Flight. RAF Felixstowe closed 21 June 1962.

Designs

* Felixstowe Porte Baby * Felixstowe F.1 * Felixstowe F.2 * Felixstowe F.3 * Felixstowe F.4 Fury * Felixstowe F.5 * Felixstowe F5L

Station commanders

*Captain C. E. Risk, RM 1913–1914 *Lieutenant C. E. H. Rathborne, RN 1914–1915 *Acting Wing Captain R. M. Groves RN 1915 *Commander J. C. Porte, RN 1915–1918 *Wing Commander C. E. Risk, RAF 1918–1919 *Wing Commander I. T. Courtney, RAF 1919–1922 *Flying Officer F. Wilton, RAF 1922–1924 *Wing Commander C. E. H. Rathborne, RAF 1924–1925 *Wing Commander R. B. Maycock, RAF 1925–1928 *Group Captain G. R. Bromet, RAF 1928–1931 *Group Captain A. J. Milley, RAF 1931–1936 *Group Captain E. J. P. Burling, RAF 1936–1939 *Wing Commander D. G. Fleming, RAF 1939–1940 *Wing Commander W. B. Hellard, RAF 1940–1942 *Wing Commander N. Keeble, RAF 1942–1943 *Wing Commander L. G. Martin, RAF 1943–1945 *Group Captain W. G. Abrams, RAF 1945–1946 *Group Captain W. P. Welch, RAF 1946–1948 *Group Captain C. A. Watt, RAF 1948–1949 *Wing Commander D. H. Thomas, RAF 1949–1951 *Wing Commander C. V. Winn, RAF 1951–1953 *Wing Commander J. A. Chorlton, RAF 1953–1954 *Wing Commander W. O. Jones, RAF 1954–1956 *Wing Commander R. P. Burton, RAF 1956–1957 *Wing Commander J. T. O'Sullivan, RAF 1957–1960 *Wing Commander C. F. Price, RAF 1960–1961 *Wing Commander C. H. Baker, RAF 1961–1962

References

External links

*
Sons of Our Empire
Film of the Royal Naval Air Service at Felixstowe, about August 1916.
Seaplanes
Film including the launch of Felixstowe flying boats at the Seaplane Experimental Station, 12 November 1918.
Felixstowe, Suffolk: Pioneering Sea Plane Base
Audio recording.
Building Britain’s WW1 flying boat fleet
Article concerning the development and manufacture of Felixstowe flying boats.
WW1 Flying boat crew
Article about air crew and operating procedures on

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

patrols.
Flying boats
over the Heligoland Bight: Article exploring the use of seaplane lighters in combined operations with the

. {{Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom 1915 establishments in England 1919 disestablishments in England Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Stations in England Military research establishments of the United Kingdom Military history of Suffolk Seaplane bases in England Airports in the East of England Felixstowe