The Potez-CAMS 141 was a French long range reconnaissance flying boat of the late 1930s. Intended to equip the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

, only a single prototype was completed before the

German invasion of France France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans. * the 1746 War of the Austrian Succession, Austria-Italian forces supported by the British navy attemp ...

stopped production. That prototype did, however serve operationally from bases in French North Africa until scrapped in 1943.

Development and design

The Potez-CAMS 141 was designed by

Chantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine Chantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine (CAMS) was a French manufacturer of flying boats, founded in Saint-Ouen in November 1920 by Lawrence Santoni. History Initially the company built Società Idrovolanti Alta Italia (SIAI) designs under licence ...

(or CAMS, which since 1933 had been part of

Potez Potez (pronounced ) was a French aircraft manufacturer founded as Aéroplanes Henry Potez by Henry Potez at Aubervilliers in 1919 in aviation, 1919. The firm began by refurbishing war-surplus SEA IV aircraft, but was soon building new examples of ...

) to meet a 1935

specification for a long range marine reconnaissance flying boat to replace obsolete aircraft such as the Breguet Bizerte, competing against the Latécoère 611 and Breguet 730. The prototype first flew on 21 January 1938 at

Caudebec-en-Caux Caudebec-en-Caux (, literally ''Caudebec in Caux'') is a former commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Rives-en-Seine. Geography Caudebec-en- ...

, starting official trials in August 1938. It was a four engined monoplane, powered by

Hispano-Suiza 12Y The Hispano-Suiza 12Y was an aircraft engine produced by Hispano-Suiza for the French Air Force before the Second World War. The 12Y became the primary French 1,000 hp (750 kW) class engine and was used in a number of famous aircraft, i ...

engines, with a braced, high aspect ratio wing mounted above the fuselage and a twin tail. It was armed with a dorsal turret 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 two machine guns in lateral "cheek" barbettes and two in waist positions. After evaluation, a production order for four aircraft was placed, with a further 15 being ordered before the start of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Operational history

The prototype, named ''Antarès'', entered service with ''Escadrille E8'' of the French Navy in September 1939, flying its first patrol mission over the Atlantic on 20 September 1939. Additional large orders for Potez-CAMS 141s were placed shortly after the start of the war, with delivery expected from June 1940, but these orders were cut back owing to changing priorities and the realisation that the loss rate of long range flying boats was very low. No production aircraft had been completed by the time 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 the ...

in June 1940, with ''Antarès'' being evacuated to

Port Lyautey Kenitra ( ar, القُنَيْطَرَة, , , ; ber, ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, Qniṭra; french: Kénitra) is a city in north western Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey from 1932 to 1956. It is a port on the Sebou river, has a population in 201 ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. It was operated by the

Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

Navy, serving with Escadrille 4E at

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...

, continuing in service until the Allied Invasion of North Africa, when after brief fighting, the French armed forces in North Africa joined with the

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

. ''Antarès'' continued in service, carrying out patrols over the Central and South Atlantic. On 2 June 1943, ''Antarès'' sank the near Dakar. ''Antarès'' was retired and scrapped early in 1944.

Operators

; *

Specifications (Potez-CAMS 141)

References

Bibliography

External links

Aviafrance
{{Potez aircraft 1930s French military reconnaissance aircraft Flying boats Four-engined tractor aircraft Potez aircraft CAMS aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1938 Four-engined piston aircraft