Supermarine Southampton
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| Southampton | |
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| Type | Military reconnaissance flying boat |
| Manufacturer | Supermarine |
| Maiden flight | 10 March 1925 |
| Introduced | 1925 |
| Primary users | Royal Air Force Argentina Australia Japan Turkey |
| Number built | 83 |
| Developed from | Supermarine Swan |
| Variants | Scapa Stranraer |
The Supermarine Southampton was a 1920s British flying boat, one of the most successful flying boats of the between-war period. It was a development of the Supermarine Swan, which was used for a 10 passenger service between England and France.
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[edit] Development
The Southampton was designed by the team of R. J. Mitchell, better known as the designer of the later Spitfire. Due to the success of the Swan, the Air Ministry ordered six Southamptons direct from the drawing board, which was very unusual. As the Swan had acted in effect as a prototype, development time was short. The first flight of a production aircraft was made on 10 March 1925, and delivery to the RAF started in the middle of 1925. Further aircraft were sold to a number of other countries. Eight new aircraft were sold to Argentina, with Turkey purchasing six aircraft and Australia buying two ex-RAF Mk 1 aircraft. Japan also purchased a single aircraft which was later converted into an 18 passenger cabin airliner. One aircraft was placed on the British Civil Register (G-AASH) and was operated by Imperial Airways. In all 83 Southamptons were constructed, excluding the three-engined Southampton MK X which was a single prototype.[1]
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[edit] Design
The Southampton was a two-engine biplane flying boat, with the tractor engines mounted between the wings. The Southampton Mk I had both its hull and its wings manufactured from wood. The Southampton Mk II had a hull with a single thickness of metal (duralumin) (the Mk I had a double wooden bottom). This change gave a weight saving of 900 lb (409 kg) allowing for an increase of range of approximately 200 miles (325 km). In 1929 24 of the Mk I were converted by having newly-built metal hulls replacing the wooden ones. Some of the later aircraft were built with metal wings and were probably designated as Mk III. There were three positions for machine guns, one in the nose and two staggered in the rear fuselage.
[edit] Variants
Different powerplants were fitted in variants:
- Mk I
- Napier Lion V engine, wooden hull. 23 built. [2]
- Mk II
- Napier Lion Va, 39 built[3]
- Argentina
- Lorraine-Deitrich 12E. Five wooden hulled + three metal hulled aircraft.[2]
- Turkey
- Hispano-Suiza 12Nbr. Six built.[1].
Bristol Jupiter IX and Rolls-Royce Kestrel in experiments
[edit] Operators
[edit] Military Operators
- Royal Australian Air Force
- Coastal Reconnaissance Flight RAAF
- No. 1 Flying Training School's Seaplane Squadron RAAF
- Royal Air Force [4]
- No. 201 Squadron RAF
- No. 203 Squadron RAF
- No. 204 Squadron RAF
- No. 205 Squadron RAF
- No. 209 Squadron RAF
- No. 210 Squadron RAF
[edit] Civil Operators
[edit] Specifications (Southampton II)
Data from Supermarine Aircraft since 1914[5]
General characteristics
- Crew: Five (2 pilots and 3 gunners)[6]
- Length: 49 ft 8½ in (15.15 m)
- Wingspan: 75 ft (22.86 m)
- Height: 20 ft 5 in (6.2 m)
- Wing area: 1,448 ft² (134.5 m²)
- Empty weight: 9,696.5 lb (4,398 kg)
- Loaded weight: 15,200 lb (6,895 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× Napier Lion VA, 500 hp (373 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 83 knots (95 mph, 153 km/h) at sea level
- Range: 473 nm (544 mi, 876 km) at 86 mph (139 km/h) and 2,000 ft (610 m)
- Service ceiling 5,950 ft (1,814m)
- Rate of climb: 368 ft/min (1.87 m/s)
- Wing loading: 10.50 lb/ft² (51.26 kg/m²)
- Power/mass: 0.066 hp/lb (0.11 kW/kg)
- Climb to 6,000 ft (1,829 m) 29 minutes 42 seconds
- Endurance 6.3 hours
Armament
- Guns:
- Three Lewis guns, one in bows and two amidships.
- Bombs:
- 1,100 lb of bombs under the wings.
[edit] See also
Related development
Related lists
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography
- Andrews, CF; Morgan, EB (1987). Supermarine Aircraft since 1914, 2nd edition, London: Putnam. ISBN 0 85177 800 3.
- Thetford, Owen (1957). Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918-57, First Edition, London: Putnam.
[edit] External Links
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