Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Long-range reconnaissance flying-boat

Power Plant:

(Mk I)

Two 336 kw (450 hp) Napier Lion V twelve-cylinder broad-arrow liquid-cooled engines

Specifications:

Armament:

Three 7.69 mm (0.303 in) Lewis Mk III machine guns on Scarff rings; bomb load up to 862 kg (1,900 lb); or two 45.72 cm (18 in) torpedoes

History:

The Southampton was designed as a patrol seaplane to replace the Felixstowe F.5, six aircraft being ordered in 1924 before the prototype was built.  Four development aircraft (N218 and N251 to N253) were ordered in addition to the previous order; and production aircraft, commencing with N9896, became the Mk I having wooden hulls.  N218 was later converted to have a metal hull and was re-designated Mk II.  A crew of five was accommodated: two pilots in open cockpits, three gunners positions, one in the bow, he also being the bomb aimer, and one on each side of the hull aft of the wings. One Southampton (N253) was trialled with Rolls Royce Kestrel IIMS engines.

A total of 83 was built and they were exported to Australia, Japan, Turkey and Argentina. Like a lot of aircraft built by Supermarine, the Southampton was designed by R J Mitchell. One (S1235 – later G-AASH) was loaned to Imperial Airways for a period to replace a Short Calcutta lost in an accident. Another was civilianised in Japan, becoming J-BAID.  One was fitted with two Bristol Jupiter VIII geared radial engines; and those supplied to the Argentine Navy had 336 kw (450 hp) Lorraine-Dietrich engines.

Following World War I the RAAF looked at introducing long-range flying-boats into service at Point Cook, VIC operating from the waters of Port Phillip Bay, establishing No 5 Squadron with Short flying boats.  The initial requirement was for 18 aircraft, but this was reduced to eight, and eventually, because of financial restrictions, the Supermarine Seagull III was obtained.  However, there was still a need for a larger aircraft, and the British Air Board in 1927 noted that the Commonwealth Government had undertaken to co-operate with the British Government to look at opening up air routes.  At this time the Southampton was replacing the Felixstowe F.5 in RAF service, the prototype having flown on 10 March 1925.  As noted the Southampton Mk I had a wooden hull but the Mk II had a metal hull, the latter having the weight reduced by some 408 kg (900 lb).

Two Southampton Is (A11-1 – ex S1158 and A11-2 – ex S1159) were ordered by the Australian Government fitted with Napier Lion engines and built with wooden hulls. They arrived in Melbourne, VIC as deck cargo on board the SS Ferndale on 26 January 1928.  Flights undertaken include A11-2 being flown to Townsville, QLD in August; and A11-1 being flown to Tasmania to assist in a survey carried out by two Westland Wapitis in April 1930.

The Minister for Defence in October 1927 approved an experimental air service from Melbourne to Hobart using these two aircraft.  However, this did not commence as the aircraft were tasked to fly to Singapore to join-up with an RAF Flight which had flown there from the UK.  This flight also did not take place and the Australian Southamptons were flown to Adelaide, SA to meet the RAF aircraft when they arrived as the British aircraft were flying to Melbourne .

The Southamptons were also used for exercises with the Australian fleet, and in searches for missing ships.  A11-1 sank at its moorings in Adelaide on 22 June 1928, had to be salvaged and was repaired.  It flew to New Guinea where it searched for the missing Short Scion seaplane (VH-UUP) and suffered a couple of accidents whilst there, including striking a reef.  At the request of the Controller of Civil Aviation, a survey was made of the Papuan coast and a reconnaissance was made of the Fly River.  The two aircraft were attached to the RAAF Coastal Reconnaissance Flight at the time.

A11-2 suffered an engine failure on 7 April 1934 and landed on Lake Reeve in East Gippsland, VIC where it was dis-assembled, conveyed to Lake Wellington, near Sale, also in the Gippsland region, re-assembled and flown out.  In 1938 A11-2 was reconditioned but did not see much service thereafter. A11-2 was used for parachute training up to 1939, having platforms fitted on the rear interplane struts.  It was also used for large flying-boat training. Eventually the bottom of the hull collapsed, the aircraft was written off, and it was disposed of by stripping the airframe of parts and being sunk in the sea near Point Cook.

Examples of the type have also visited this area.  As noted earlier, four aircraft of the RAF Far East Flight (serials S1149, S1150, S1151 and S1152) left Felixstowe in England on 14 October 1927.  These four aircraft all had metal hulls and flew to and around Australia, flying via India, Singapore and the Dutch East Indies.  The flight was undertaken to prove the ability of the RAF to reinforce the most distant corners of the Empire, being under the command of Grp Capt H M Cave-Browne-Cave. They then flew through the Philippines, Hong Kong, Saigon, Bangkok, and Burma to Singapore.  From Koepang on Dutch Timor they flew to Roebuck Bay, Broome, Port Headland, Carnarvon, Perth, and Albany, all in Western Australia.

As the distance from Perth to Ceduna, SA (1,312 km / 815 miles) was too great for the aircraft’s range, fuel was placed at Israelite Bay on the Great Australian Bight and the aircraft landed there, refuelled and continued on to Port Adelaide, arriving on 23 June 1928.  Here the crews saw the half-submerged RAAF Southampton (S1158 – later A11-1) which had been badly damaged when it was turned over in a storm near Osborne.  The RAF Flight flew on to Melbourne, landing at St Kilda for an official reception, and Point Cook.  Up to this stage the flight had taken eight months.  At Point Cook the aircraft were placed on public display.

On 29 June 1928 the Flight left for Sydney, initially landing at Botany Bay and then at 1 pm landed on Sydney Harbour and mooring at Farm Cove.  Later the Flight went on to Brisbane and Bowen, QLD where it met a flight of RAAF Seagull IIIs which was performing a survey of the Great Barrier Reef. The Flight continued on to Cooktown, QLD on 24 August, Thursday Island, QLD, Port Darwin, NT and Seletar in Singapore. A spare aircraft was waiting there and was assembled, one of the aircraft which made the Australian flight (S1149) being shipped back to the United Kingdom for inspection and overhaul, later being shown at the 1929 Olympia Aero Show.

After further flights through Vietnam and Burma the Flight returned to Seletar on 11 December 1928, having been travelling for 14 months and covering a total of 43,980 km (27,950 miles).  The Flight later became No 205 Squadron at Seletar, receiving Consolidated Catalinas, and was evacuated to Australia in March 1942 where it was disbanded later that month.

One Southampton survives.  This aircraft (N9899), used for many years as a houseboat at Bawdsey on the River Deben near Felixstowe, has been under restoration at the RAF Museum at Hendon for some years.