The SEA IV was a French two-seat military aircraft of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the immediate post-war era.

Development

The SEA IV was designed and built in

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

Henry Potez Henry Potez (Méaulte, 30 September 1891 – Paris, 9 November 1981) was a French aircraft industrialist. He studied in the French Aeronautics School '' Supaéro''. With Marcel Dassault, he was the inventor of the Potez-Bloch propeller which, aft ...

Louis Coroller Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

, and Marcel Bloch. It was a derivative of their previous

SEA II The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of water, body of saline water, salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote List of seas, second-order sections of ...

design, equipped with a more powerful Lorraine engine of 261 kW (350 hp). It made its first flight during the first quarter of

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

, probably near Plessis-Belleville. It was initially tested by Gustave Douchy, a

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

of 9 victories, then by the pilots of the

Centre d'essais en Vol Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

at Villacoublay. The " Ministère de l'Armement et des Fabrications de guerre" (Ministry of Armament and War Production) soon placed an order for 1,000 machines, making the SEA IV the first Dassault-designed aircraft to reach production.

Operational history

On August 24, 1918, General Duval, commander of Aéronautique at General Headquarters foresaw the need for two variants to equip the escadrilles at the beginning of

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

: the SEA IV A2 for observation and the SEA IV C2 for fighting. In October, General Headquarters ordered the commissioning of a flotilla to operate these aircraft, and therefore required production to reach 200 planes per month during the first quarter of 1919, to have a force of 400 on hand by April 1. 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 La ...

, however, meant that the initial order of 1,000 was cancelled, and in the end, only 115 examples were built. These C2s were used for a number of years by several escadrilles in the "Regiments d'Aviation" at

Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a Communes of France, commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero#France, center of Paris. The commune features Paris - Le Bourget Airport, Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hos ...

. A further 25 were built by Aéroplanes Henry Potez as the

Potez VII The Potez SEA VII, otherwise known simply as the Potez VII, was an early airliner developed in France shortly after the First World War.Taylor 1989, p.750 Design and development The SEA VII was a civil version of the SEA IV military aircraft t ...

, a luxury touring aircraft, and one further example formed the basis of a racing aircraft.

Variants

;SEA IV: Basic production variant ;SEA IV P.M.:A long-distance aircraft with additional fuel tanks giving an endurance of 6 hours. ;SEA IV floatplane: Under construction at the time of the Armistice in November 1918

Operators

;

Specifications (SEA IV C2)

References

Bibliography

External links

Dassault official home page
Biplanes 1910s French fighter aircraft 1910s French military reconnaissance aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1918 Marcel Dassault