The Potez 452 was a French flying boat designed and built by

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 ...

in response to a

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 ...

specification for a shipboard reconnaissance machine for use on its battleships and cruisers.

Design

The design requirements included the ability for launch by a catapult or from the sea. In addition, the wings were required to fold to simplify storage aboard ship. It first flew in 1935, and after satisfactory flight trials, it began equipping French ships a year later. Only sixteen Potez 452s were built. The Spanish Navy also expressed interest, which resulted in Spain acquiring a

manufacturing license Licensed production is the production under license of technology developed elsewhere. The licensee provides the licensor of a specific product with legal production rights, technical information, process technology, and any other proprietary compon ...

. Spain built no aircraft.

Operational history

The Potez 452 was active as a reconnaissance aircraft during the early months of

World War II 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 opposin ...

. During that time there was no significant naval action in the Mediterranean where most of the French Navy was operating. After the French capitulation to Germany in June 1940, these aircraft continued to serve with their ships and as part of

Vichy France 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 ter ...

's military, briefly engaged their former ally

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. Other Potez 452s were deployed to French colonies in

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

, which included reconnaissance duty in the 1940–1941

Franco-Thai War The Franco-Thai War (October 1940 – January 28, 1941, th, กรณีพิพาทอินโดจีน, Krṇī phiphāth xindocīn; french: Guerre franco-thaïlandaise) was fought between Thailand and Vichy France over certain areas o ...

between 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 ...

controlled colonies and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and some remained in service until 1944, by which time the final survivors were retired. In 1937 a single Potez 452 had been supplied to the

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service The was the Naval aviation, air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War. The Japanese military acquired their first air ...

for evaluation as the Potez HXP1.

Variants

;Potez 450 :Prototype flying-boat with a

Salmson 9Ab Between 1920 and 1951 the Société des Moteurs Salmson in France developed and built a series of widely used air-cooled aircraft engines.Gunston 1986, p. 158. Design and development After their successful water-cooled radial engines, develope ...

engine, one built ;Potez 452 :Production variant with a

Hispano-Suiza 9Qd The Wright R-975 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by the Wright Aeronautical division of Curtiss-Wright. These engines had a displacement of about and power ratings of . They were the largest memb ...

engine, 48 built. ;Potez 453 :Floatplane fighter derived from the 452, powered by a

Hispano-Suiza 14Hbs Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...

. A single prototype was built, first flown on 24 September 1935.

Operators

; *

Specifications (Potez 452)

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Bousquet, Gérard. ''French Flying Boats of WW II''. Sandomierz, Poland: Stratus, 2013 * * {{Japanese Navy short aircraft designations 1930s French military reconnaissance aircraft Flying boats 045 Single-engined tractor aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1935