Hubert Scott-Paine
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
aircraft and boat designer, record-breaking power boat racer, entrepreneur, inventor, and sponsor of the winning entry in the 1922 Schneider Trophy
Schneider Trophy
The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider was a prize competition for seaplanes. Announced by Jacques Schneider, a financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, in 1911, it offered a prize of roughly £1,000. The race was held eleven times between 1913 and 1931...
.
Early life
Hubert Paine was born in ShorehamShoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea is a small town, port and seaside resort in West Sussex, England. Shoreham-by-Sea railway station is located less than a mile from the town centre and London Gatwick Airport is away...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, on 11 March 1891, to Henry Paine and Rosannah (née Scott). He was educated at Shoreham Grammar School.
Supermarine
Scott-Paine worked for Noel Pemberton BillingNoel Pemberton Billing
Noel Pemberton Billing was an English aviator, inventor, publisher, and Member of Parliament. He founded the firm that became Supermarine and promoted air power, but he held a strong antipathy towards the Royal Aircraft Factory and its products...
dealing in yachts, eventually in 1913 forming Pemberton-Billing Ltd (with 'Supermarine' as the telegraphic address), with Hubert the factory manager at Woolston, Hampshire.
In 1916 Scott-Paine bought the company and renamed it the Supermarine Aviation Company Limited
Supermarine
Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that became famous for producing a range of sea planes and the Supermarine Spitfire fighter. The name now belongs to an English motorboat manufacturer.-History:...
, building flying boats for the British Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
. Reginald Mitchell (of Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
fame) was employed at this time and the company greatly expanded.
Hubert married Alice Brenda Hockey in 1917, having 4 children. By this time he had changed his surname by hyphenating his parent's surnames to create Scott-Paine.
Channel Air Service
In February 1919 Scott-Paine started the first cross-channel flying boat service, between Woolston and the Channel IslandsChannel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
and Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
, using converted Supermarine AD Flying Boat
AD Flying Boat
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography*Andrews, C.F. and E.B. Morgan. Supermarine Aircraft since 1914. London:Putnam, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-800-3.*Bruce, J.M. British Aeroplanes 1914-18. London:Putnam, 1957....
s. His company was named the British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd
British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd
British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd was a short-lived British airline operating flying boats across the English Channel in 1923 and 1924. It merged with three other airlines in 1924 to form Imperial Airways.-Formation:...
.
Schneider Trophy
After his failed 1919 attempt for the Jacques Schneider TrophySchneider Trophy
The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider was a prize competition for seaplanes. Announced by Jacques Schneider, a financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, in 1911, it offered a prize of roughly £1,000. The race was held eleven times between 1913 and 1931...
, Supermarine won the Trophy in 1922 with its Sea Lion II. This allowed Britain to win it outright years later.
Imperial Airways
In 1923 Scott-Paine sold Supermarine (for £192,000). In 1924 Imperial AirwaysImperial Airways
Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long range air transport company, operating from 1924 to 1939 and serving parts of Europe but especially the Empire routes to South Africa, India and the Far East...
was formed by the merger of Scott-Paine's British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd
British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd
British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd was a short-lived British airline operating flying boats across the English Channel in 1923 and 1924. It merged with three other airlines in 1924 to form Imperial Airways.-Formation:...
and three other airlines. He was a director of Imperial Airways until 1939.
British Power Boat Company
Hythe, Hampshire
Hythe is a village near Southampton, Hampshire, England. It is located by the shore of Southampton Water, and has a ferry service connecting it to Southampton...
Shipyard, renaming it the British Power Boat Company
British Power Boat Company
The British Power Boat Company was a British manufacturer of motor boats, particularly racing boats and later military patrol boats.It was formed on 30 September 1927 when Hubert Scott-Paine bought and renamed the Hythe Shipyard with the intention of transforming it into one of the most modern mass...
. It was enlarged into one of the country's most modern mass production boat building yards. Many sophisticated award-winning racing boats were produced, an example being Miss England
Miss England (Speedboat)
Miss England was the name applied to a series of speedboats used by Henry Segrave and Kaye Don to contest world water speed records in the 1920s and 1930s.*Miss England I*Miss England II*Miss England III...
which is now on display at the Science Museum (London)
Science Museum (London)
The Science Museum is one of the three major museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction....
.
In the 1930s the British Power Boat Company supplied seaplane tenders and armoured target boats to the Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
, and tenders for Imperial Airways flying boats. T E Shaw
T. E. Lawrence
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...
(Lawrence of Arabia) assisted in the testing of these boats.
Although the facory was destroyed by fire in 1931, it was rapidly rebuilt and no contracts were lost.
Miss Britain III
Miss Britain III
Miss Britain III is a racing power boat designed and built by Hubert Scott-Paine, a British aircraft and boat designer.During 1932 Hubert Scott-Paine, owner of the British Power Boat Company and already a noted power boat racer, asked Rolls-Royce for a Rolls-Royce 'R' engine which had powered the...
as a Harmsworth Trophy challenger. In a 1933 race Scott-paine was narrowly defeated by the four-engined Miss America X.
In 1934 Miss Britain III set the world record for a single-engined boat of 110.1 mph.
Miss Britain III is now on display at the National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
at Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
.
Motor Torpedo Boats
From 1933 Scott-Paine designed and built hard chineChine (boating)
A chine in boating refers to a sharp angle in the hull, as compared to the rounded bottoms of most traditional boat hulls. The term hard chine indicates an angle with little rounding, where a soft chine would be more rounded, but still involve the meeting of distinct planes. Chine log...
motor torpedo boats, and MA/SB anti-submarine boats, from 1935 having them accepted by the Admiralty.
Scott-Paine and George Selman designed and built a new 70 feet (21.3 m) private venture PV70, a sea-going MTB with three marinised Rolls-Royce Merlin
Rolls-Royce Merlin
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled, V-12, piston aero engine, of 27-litre capacity. Rolls-Royce Limited designed and built the engine which was initially known as the PV-12: the PV-12 became known as the Merlin following the company convention of naming its piston aero engines after...
engines. The boat was launched in 1938, but although no orders came from the Admiralty, orders were received from friendly governments.
PT Boats
In 1939 agreement was reached with the American Electric Launch CompanyElectric Launch Company
The Electric Launch Company, later renamed Elco Motor Yachts, is a United States boat building and electric motor company that has operated from 1893 until present . It was originally run by Henry R. Sutphen in 1895...
(Elco) to purchase a British Power Boat 70-footer (later named PT9), as a template for American production under licence. PT9 was taken by the SS President Roosevelt to Elco’s works at New London, Connecticut
New London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....
. On 3 October Scott-Paine met President Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
and senior Elco representatives at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
to authorize the creation of a new naval arm, the PT Boat
PT boat
PT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".The original pre–World War I torpedo boats were...
Squadrons. Production started at a new Elco factory at Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is a peninsula that is situated between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east...
in January 1940.
The Canadian Power Boat Company
Canadian Power Boat Company
Canadian Power Boat Company was a manufacturer of MTBs and similar craft in Canada during World War II.Canadian Powerboat Company was set up by the British Power Boat Company to build Motor Torpedo Boats based on the Scott Payne design. The company was located on St. Patrick Street, next to the...
was set up by Scott-Paine in 1940. This produced 39 boats, mainly MTBs.
After the passing of Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
in 1941 comparative trials, nicknamed the Plywood Derby
PT boat
PT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".The original pre–World War I torpedo boats were...
s, were held between rival American boatbuilders, Elco winning both. Elco went on to produce 754 70-, 77-, and 80 feet (24.4 m) PT Boats, including Jack Kennedy’s PT109, & the boat that rescued General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
from Corregidor
Corregidor
Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is a lofty island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor was fortified with several coastal artillery and ammunition magazines to defend the entrance of...
.
Later years
In December 1944 Scott-Paine received a cheque for $200,000 from the United States Secretary of the Navy James ForrestalJames Forrestal
James Vincent Forrestal was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense....
in recognition of his services.
In 1945 all contracts at both the Canadian and British Power boat Companies were cancelled.
Scott-Paine was divorced in 1946 and married Margaret Dinkeldein, his secretary, in New York in the same year. His health had not been good for years and in April, two months later, he suffered a stroke.
In 1948 he was made an American citizen. Hubert Scott-paine died at Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
on 14 April 1954, aged 63.