The Latécoère 611 was a French four-engined maritime reconnaissance

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Although only a single prototype was completed, this served throughout the war, being used by both the

Vichy French Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against G ...

and

Free French Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a gover ...

navies.

Development and design

In May 1935, the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

issued a specification for a long-range flying boat to replace the obsolete

Breguet 521 Breguet may refer to: * Breguet (watch), watch manufacturer **Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), Swiss watchmaker ** Louis-François-Clement Breguet (1804–1883), French physicist, watchmaker, electrical and telegraph work * Breguet Aviation, ...

. To meet this requirement, Latécoère designed the Latécoère 611. This was a

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

s and fitted with a twin tail. It was also fitted with stabilising floats that retracted into the outer engine

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as Aircraft engine, engines, fuel or equipment. When attached entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached with a Hardpoint#Pylon, pylo ...

s. The prototype was assembled at

Biscarrosse Biscarrosse (; ) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is located southwest of Bordeaux, and inland from the seaside resort of Biscarrosse-Plage on the Atlantic coast. Near Biscarrosse is the ...

, and first flew on 8 March 1939. Although it was intended that the aircraft be armed with a 25 mm cannon in a dorsal turret, this was unavailable, and was replaced by one carrying two 7.5 mm

Darne machine gun The Darne machine gun is a machine gun of French origin. Development The French gun-making company Darne, which became famous for its innovative shotguns, began making military weapons in 1915, when it was contracted by French government to man ...

s, with a further four machine guns firing through portholes and two in a retractable tail position. In December 1939 the French Navy placed an order for twelve of a modified version, the Latécoère 612, which was to be powered by four

Pratt & Whitney R-1830 The Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp is an American air-cooled radial aircraft engine. It has 14 cylinders, arranged in two rings of seven. It displaces and its bore and stroke are both . The design traces its history to 1929 experiments a ...

radial engines. These aircraft, however, were never delivered.

Operational history

The prototype Latécoère 611 was delivered to the French Navy on 12 April 1940 and named '' Achenar'', being flown to North Africa in June 1940 and subsequently disarmed under the terms of the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

. After being damaged in a collision with another flying boat, it eventually entered full service with the

Navy on 15 October 1941, operating with ''Escadrille 4E'' at

Port Lyautey Kenitra (, , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is a port on the Sebou River with a population of 507,736 as of 2024. It is one of the three main cities of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and the capital of the similarly named Kénitra ...

and

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

. In November 1942, following the Allied Invasion of North Africa, ''Escadrille 4E'' switched sides and joined the

, carrying out anti-submarine patrols over the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

, later (October 1943) being enlarged to form ''Flotille 7F'', which continued to fly the Latécoère 611 alongside

Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat Maritime patrol aircraft, patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of ...

s. The Latécoère was re-armed in 1944, with the dorsal turret being fitted with two 50 cal. Browning machine guns and a similar gun being fitted in the tail. The sole Latécoère 611 was finally retired from service as a transport in 1947.

Variants

;Latécoère 610 :Design studies for a military flying boat to have been powered by 4x Hispano-Suiza 14AA-02 / Hispano-Suiza 14AA-03 engines, (left and right handed rotation). ;Latécoère 611 :Prototype – powered by four Gnome-Rhône 14N-30 / Gnome-Rhône 14N-31 engines, (left and right handed rotation), given the name ''Achernar''. One built. ;Latécoère 612 :Proposed production version – powered by four

engines, (twelve ordered but unbuilt).

Specifications (Latécoère 611)

Operators

; *

Vichy French Air Force The Air Force (), usually referred to as the Air Force of Vichy (''Armée de l'air de Vichy'') or Armistice Air Force (''Armée de l'Air de l'armistice'') for clarity, was the aerial branch of the Armistice Army of Vichy France established in th ...

; *

Free French Air Force The Free French Air Forces (, FAFL) were the air arm of the Free French Forces in the Second World War, created by Charles de Gaulle in 1940. The designation ceased to exist in 1943 when the Free French Forces merged with General Giraud's force ...

References

Bibliography

External links

aviafrance.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latecoere 611 1930s French military reconnaissance aircraft Flying boats Four-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1939 Four-engined piston aircraft