Seaplane bases in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
This article lists both active and historic seaplane
bases in the United Kingdom
, many of which were either used for, or planned to be used for, the defence of the UK.
A seaplane base may be anything from a stretch of water where seaplanes were based to a full installation, either floating (powered
or unpowered) or shore based, where seaplanes were serviced. In the UK these are presumed to be coastal.
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
bases in the United Kingdom
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...
, many of which were either used for, or planned to be used for, the defence of the UK.
A seaplane base may be anything from a stretch of water where seaplanes were based to a full installation, either floating (powered
Seaplane tender
A seaplane tender is a ship that provides facilities for operating seaplanes. These ships were the first aircraft carriers and appeared just before the First World War.-History:...
or unpowered) or shore based, where seaplanes were serviced. In the UK these are presumed to be coastal.
Active seaplane bases
- Glasgow Seaplane TerminalGlasgow Seaplane TerminalGlasgow Seaplane Terminal is a new seaplane airport terminal in Glasgow, Scotland. It opened in August 2007.The terminal is located on Pacific Quay by the Glasgow Science Centre, on the River Clyde, in the city centre...
, GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... - Oban Bay, ObanObanOban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...
- Loch LomondLoch LomondLoch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault. It is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area. The lake contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles, although the lake itself is smaller than many Irish...
- Tobermory, Isle of MullIsle of MullThe Isle of Mull or simply Mull is the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute....
- EnniskillenEnniskillenEnniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...
Former bases
(anticlockwise from Lands End)- RAF Mount BattenRAF Mount BattenRAF Mount Batten was a Royal Air Force station and flying boat base at Mount Batten, a peninsula in Plymouth Sound, Devon. England. Originally a seaplane station opened in 1917 as a Royal Navy Air Service Station Cattewater it became RAF Cattewater in 1918 and in 1928 was re-named RAF Mount Batten...
, PlymouthPlymouthPlymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, DevonDevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
(was RNAS Cattewater) - RNAS Portland (HMS Osprey), PortlandIsle of PortlandThe Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...
, DorsetDorsetDorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974... - RNAS Calshot/RAF CalshotRAF CalshotRAF Calshot was initially a seaplane and flying boat station, and latterly an RAF marine craft maintenance and training unit. It was located at the end of Calshot Spit in Southampton Water, Hampshire, England, at...
, HampshireHampshireHampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force... - RNAS KingsnorthRNAS KingsnorthRNAS Kingsnorth was a First World War Royal Navy air station for seaplanes and airships, mainly operating as an experimental and training station, but also providing anti-submarine patrols...
, KentKentKent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of... - RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus), Hampshire
- Newhaven Seaplane BaseNewhaven Seaplane BaseNewhaven Seaplane Base is today the derelict site of an experimental seaplane base at the head of the beach east of Newhaven Harbour, seaward of Tide Mills, East Sussex, England-History:...
, Tide MillsTide Mills, East SussexTide Mills is a derelict village in East Sussex, England. It lies about two kilometres south east of Newhaven and four kilometres north west of Seaford and is near both Bishopstone and East Blatchington.-The old village:...
, east of NewhavenNewhaven, East SussexNewhaven is a town in the Lewes District of East Sussex in England. It lies at the mouth of the River Ouse, on the English Channel coast, and is a ferry port for services to France.-Origins:...
Harbour, SussexSussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West... - Westgate-on-SeaWestgate-on-SeaWestgate-on-Sea is a seaside town in northeast Kent, England, with a population of 6,600. It is within the Thanet local government district and borders the larger seaside resort of Margate...
, KentKentKent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of... - RNAS Felixstowe, SuffolkSuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
- RNAS Hickling Broad, NorfolkNorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
- Brough AerodromeBrough AerodromeBrough Aerodrome is located at Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.The site was first used by the Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company during World War I for the testing of seaplanes....
, East Riding of YorkshireEast Riding of YorkshireThe East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority... - RNAS Donibristle, Dalgety BayDalgety BayDalgety Bay Today, Dalgety Bay functions largely as a dormitory suburb of Edinburgh and to the rest of Fife. While the architecture of the town reflects construction by volume housebuilders, the town is a regular winner of the Best Kept Small Town title...
, FifeFifeFife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire... - RAF Woodhaven, WoodhavenWoodhaven, FifeWoodhaven used to be a small village between Newport-on-Tay and Wormit in Fife, Scotland but over the years due to expansion of both these villages it is now just the name for a harbour.During World War II the RAF had a flying boat station at Woodhaven....
, FifeFifeFife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire... - RNAS Dundee (HMS Condor II), DundeeDundeeDundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, AngusAngusAngus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City... - RAF Alness, AlnessAlnessAlness is a town and civil parish in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. It lies near the Cromarty Firth, with the town of Invergordon to the east and the village of Evanton to the south west...
, Ross and CromartyRoss and CromartyRoss and Cromarty is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use... - Sullom VoeSullom VoeSullom Voe is an inlet between North Mainland and Northmavine on Shetland in Scotland. It is a location of the Sullom Voe oil terminal. The word Voe is from the Old Norse vagr and denotes a small bay or narrow creek...
, Shetland - RAF Greenock, Greenock, InverclydeInverclydeInverclyde is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire - which current exists as a registration county and lieutenancy area - located in the west...
- RAF Castle ArchdaleRAF Castle ArchdaleRAF Castle Archdale, also known for a while as RAF Lough Erne was a Royal Air Force station used by the RAF and the Royal Canadian Air Force station in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.-WWII History:...
, Lough ErneLough ErneLough Erne, sometimes Loch Erne , is the name of two connected lakes in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The lakes are widened sections of the River Erne. The river begins by flowing north, and then curves west into the Atlantic. The southern lake is further up the river and so is named Upper...
, Northern IrelandNorthern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west... - RNAS Lawrenny Ferry, Pembrokeshire
- RAF Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire
See also
- List of air stations of the Royal Navy
- RAF Coastal CommandRAF Coastal CommandRAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force . Founded in 1936, it was the RAF's premier maritime arm, after the Royal Navy's secondment of the Fleet Air Arm in 1937. Naval aviation was neglected in the inter-war period, 1919–1939, and as a consequence the service did not receive...
- Royal Air ForceRoyal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
- Royal Flying CorpsRoyal Flying CorpsThe Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
- Royal Naval Air ServiceRoyal Naval Air ServiceThe Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...
- Seaplane tenderSeaplane tenderA seaplane tender is a ship that provides facilities for operating seaplanes. These ships were the first aircraft carriers and appeared just before the First World War.-History:...