Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot

Last updated May 02, 2019

The British Royal Naval Air Service established an R.N. Aeroplane Repair Depot on the Isle of Grain on the River Medway Estuary in Kent in early 1915. As there was already a RNAS seaplane base on the Isle of Grain, the Depot was named Port Victoria, after the nearby railway station. It became the Marine Aircraft Experimental Depot,^[1] comprising 3 sections:

The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force, the world's first independent air force.

St James, Isle of Grain is a village and the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula within the district of Medway in Kent. No longer an island and now forming part of the peninsula, the area is almost all marshland and is a major habitat for diverse wetland birds. The village constitutes a civil parish, which at the 2011 census had a population of 1,648, a net decrease of 83 people in 10 years.

River Medway river in South East England

The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald, Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a total distance of 70 miles (113 km). About 13 miles (21 km) of the river lies in Sussex, with the remainder being in Kent.

Experimental Construction Depot
Seaplane Test Depot
Experimental Armament Section

It was renamed Marine and Armament Experimental Establishment on 16 March 1920 in recognition of the fact that weapons and other equipment were evaluated as well as complete aircraft. It was renamed again on 1 March 1924 to the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment and eventually moved to Felixstowe.

The Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment (MAEE) was a British military research and test organisation. It was originally formed as the Marine Aircraft Experimental Station in October 1918 at RAF Isle of Grain, a former Royal Naval Air Service seaplane base, to design, test and evaluate seaplanes, flying boats and other aircraft with a naval connection.

Felixstowe is a seaside town in Suffolk, England. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 23,689. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest container port in the United Kingdom.

While at Port Victoria it designed a range of experimental aircraft, not all of which were constructed and flown.

Port Victoria aircraft types

The Port Victoria P.V.1 was a British prototype floatplane fighter of the First World War, built at the Royal Naval Air Service's Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot on the Isle of Grain by fitting a Sopwith Baby with high-lift wings. Only a single aircraft was built, with the type not being chosen for production.

The Port Victoria P.V.2 was a British prototype floatplane fighter of the First World War, designed and built at the Royal Naval Air Service's Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot on the Isle of Grain. Only a single aircraft was built, with the type not being chosen for production.

The Port Victoria P.V.4 was a prototype two-seat reconnaissance floatplane of the First World War. The P.V.4 was a small single engined pusher biplane. It was unsuccessful as the engine it was designed around was a failure and alternatives were unsuitable, only one aircraft being built.

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The Sopwith Tabloid and Sopwith Schneider were British biplanes, originally designed as sports aircraft and later adapted for military use. They were among the first types to be built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. The "Tabloid", so named because of its small size, caused a sensation when it made its first public appearance.

The Short Admiralty Type 184, often called the Short 225 after the power rating of the engine first fitted, was a British two-seat reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo carrying folding-wing seaplane designed by Horace Short of Short Brothers. It was first flown in 1915 and remained in service until after the armistice in 1918. A Short 184 was the first aircraft to sink a ship using a torpedo, and another was the only British aircraft to take part in the Battle of Jutland.

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The Seaplane Experimental Station, formerly RNAS Felixstowe, was a British aircraft design unit during the early part of the 20th century.

The Port Victoria P.V.7 Grain Kitten was a prototype British Fighter aircraft of the First World War designed and built by the Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot on the Isle of Grain. A very small and light biplane intended to fly off platforms on Royal Navy Destroyers, it was unsuccessful, only a single prototype being built.

The Port Victoria P.V.8 Eastchurch Kitten was a prototype British fighter aircraft of the First World War designed and built by the Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot on the Isle of Grain. It was a small and light biplane with a conventional wheeled undercarriage intended to operate from platforms on small ships, but while it had good handling, an unreliable and underpowered engine meant that the aircraft did not enter production, with only one prototype being completed. In 2014, a replica Kitten - originally started in the 1980s - was completed by enthusiasts at the Yorkshire Air Museum.

The Sopwith B.1 was an experimental British bomber aircraft of the First World War. A single-seat, single-engined biplane, the B.1 was built by the Sopwith Aviation Company for the Royal Navy. Although only two were built, one was used for bombing raids over France.

The Grain Griffin was a British carrier based reconnaissance aircraft developed and built by the RNAS Marine Experimental Depot, Port Victoria during the First World War. A development of the unsuccessful Sopwith B.1 bomber, the Grain Griffin was a two-seat single-engined biplane that was built in small numbers for Britain's Royal Naval Air Service, being used operationally during the British intervention in the Russian Civil War.

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The Westland N.1B was a prototype British single-engined floatplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. The first aircraft to be designed by Westland Aircraft, it was a single-engined tractor biplane. Despite good performance, only two aircraft were built, the Royal Naval Air Service operating landplane fighters from ships instead.

The Norman Thompson N.1B was a prototype British flying boat fighter aircraft of the First World War. A two-seat single-engined pusher biplane, a single example was built in 1917, but no production followed.

The Fairey N.9 was a British experimental floatplane of the First World War; only one was built. It carried out the first shipborne catapult launches from Royal Navy ships, and was later sold to Norway.

The Royal Aircraft Factory C.E.1 was a prototype British flying boat of the First World War. It was a single-engined pusher configuration biplane intended to carry out coastal patrols to protect shipping against German U-boats, but only two were built, the only flying boats to be designed and built by the Royal Aircraft Factory.

The Port Victoria P.V.9 was a British single-seat biplane floatplane fighter of the First World War. Although claimed to be the best aircraft of its type yet to be tested, only a single prototype was built.

The Port Victoria P.V.5 was a British single-engined floatplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. A single example was built and flown at the Royal Naval Air Service's Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot on the Isle of Grain in 1917. Despite demonstrating good manoeuvrability and handling, no production followed, with the Royal Naval Air Service instead using landplanes for the fighter role.

References

↑ Bruce in Flight, 29 November 1957, p.846.

Bruce, J.M. "The Sopwith Tabloid,Schneider and Baby: Historic Military Aircraft No.17 Part IV". Flight , 29 November 1957. pp. 845–848.

Flight International is a weekly magazine focused on aerospace, published in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldest continuously published aviation news magazine.

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[Bruce_p846-1] Bruce in Flight, 29 November 1957, p.846.