Parnall Peto Submarine Launched Seaplane and the HMS M2

Description

The Parnall Peto was a small seaplane designed to Air Ministry specification 16/24 in the early 1920s for use as a submarine-carried reconnaissance aircraft. Half a dozen examples were designed and built by George Parnall and Company, one being lost with the submarine HMS M2 when her hangar flooded. It was one of the most challenging projects which the company undertook, because of the very small hangar in which the aircraft had to fit, mounted immediately in front of the submarine's conning tower. Of mixed wood, fabric, aluminium and steel construction, it had unequal span, Warren-braced folding rectangular wings. The first aircraft, N181, was powered by a 128 hp Bristol Lucifer engine and had mahogany plywood "Consuta" type floats. Performance was generally satisfactory but improvements were made and the machine was rebuilt with new wings, metal floats and a 169 hp Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose engine. Tests both on the sea and in the air showed that designer, Harold Bolas, had met the requirements and it was officially judged to be exceptionally good. The aircraft was launched using a compressed air catapult mounted on the forward casing of the submarine and recovered using a crane. HMS M2 was a Royal Navy aircraft-carrying submarine shipwrecked in Lyme Bay, England, on 26 January 1932. She was one of three M class boats completed. M2 was laid down at Vickers shipyard at Barrow in Furness in 1916, and launched in 1919. After the accidental sinking of HMS M1 in 1925, M2 <b>...</b>

Keywords

Parnall, Peto, HMS, M2, Royal, Navy, aircraft-carrying, submarine

Related videos ^Experimental