The Short N.3 Cromarty was a prototype

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

twin-engined biplane flying boat, designed towards the end of the

First World War 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 ...

. Only a single example was built, which first flew in 1921 and was wrecked in 1922.

Development

In April 1917, the British Admiralty developed a requirement for a long-range patrol flying boat to work in support of the Fleet, and issued Specification N.3(b) (later reissued as Air Ministry Specification XXX) to meet this need.London 2003, p.62. This resulted in designs from

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public i ...

(for the Valentia) and Shorts of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, who, although better known at the time for floatplanes, had gained experience in flying boats, building

Felixstowe F.3 The Felixstowe F.3 was a British First World War flying boat, successor to the Felixstowe F.2 designed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN at the naval air station, Felixstowe. Design and development In February 1917, the first pro ...

and F.5s under licence from April 1917.Barnes 1967, p.155.London 2003, pp. 63–64. Short Brothers received an order for three prototypes just after 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 ...

ended the First World War.London 2003, p.64. Short's design, the N.3 Cromarty, was a large, twin-engine biplane. It was powered by two

Rolls-Royce Condor The Rolls-Royce Condor aircraft piston engine was a larger version of the Rolls-Royce Eagle developing up to 675 horsepower (500 kW). The engine first ran in 1918 and a total of 327 engines were recorded as being built. Variants ''Note:'' ...

engines, and had a similar, but larger hull to that of the Felixstowe flying boats, with a biplane tail. It featured a side-by-side cockpit for the two pilots, a large box cockpit for a gunner, who was armed with a

COW Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

automatic cannon, and a dorsal position for another gunner armed with a Lewis gun.Williams and Gustin 2003, p.101. Production of the prototypes started in February 1919, but the second and third were cancelled before completion, with the first prototype eventually being launched on 21 March 1921, being first flown by

John Lankester Parker John Lankester Parker OBE FRAeS Hon. MSLAE (1896 – 22 August 1965) was Chief Test Pilot for Short Brothers from 1918 until his retirement in 1945. He joined Shorts in 1916 as a part-time test pilot and assistant to then Chief Test Pilot Ronald ...

on 11 April 1921.

Operational history

After extensive testing, the Cromarty was handed over to the RAF's Seaplane Development Flight on 17 June 1922. In August, the Flight, comprising the Cromarty, two Felixstowe F.5s and a

Phoenix Cork The English Electric P.5 Kingston was a British twin-engined biplane flying boat built by English Electric. When the English Electric Company was formed in 1918 from several companies, the Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company brought with it ...

, set out on trials of operating large flying boats away from support facilities for extended periods of time. Arriving at

St Mary's, Isles of Scilly St Mary's ( kw, Ennor, meaning ''The Mainland'') is the largest and most populous island of the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago off the southwest coast of Cornwall in England. Description St Mary's has an area of — 40 percent of the total la ...

on 21 August, the Cromarty successfully weathered a storm, but was taxied onto a reef, holing the hull. The damage was declared uneconomic to repair and the Cromarty was scrapped in place.Barnes 1967, p.157.London 2003, p.65. While the Cromarty had performed well in its limited service, one problem (as with all wooden-hulled flying boats) was soakage of water into the hull, with as much as of water absorbed after a few weeks of service.Short 1925, p.825. Tests with a metal-hulled Felixstowe F.5 resulted in an order for a prototype of an improved, metal-hulled flying boat, based on the Cromarty. This became the prototype

Short Singapore The Short Singapore was a British multi-engined biplane flying boat built after the First World War. The design was developed into two four-engined versions: the prototype Singapore II and production Singapore III. The latter became the Roya ...

I.Barnes 1967, pp. 195–198.

Specifications

Notes

References

Aircraft Production at a Glance
. ''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'', 14 December 1922, pp. 725–740. *Barnes, C.H. ''Shorts Aircraft since 1900''. London:Putnam, 1967. *London, Peter. ''British Flying Boats''. Stroud, UK:Sutton Publishing, 2003. . *Short, Oswald
All-Metal Flying Boat Hulls
. ''Flight'', 17 December 1925. pp. 823–825. *Williams, Anthony G. and Gustin, Emmanuel. ''Flying Guns: World War I and its Aftermath 1914–32''. Ramsbury, UK:Airlife, 2003. .

External links

{{Short Brothers aircraft 1920s British patrol aircraft Flying boats

Cromarty Cromarty (; gd, Cromba, ) is a town, civil parish and former royal burgh in Ross and Cromarty, in the Highland area of Scotland. Situated at the tip of the Black Isle on the southern shore of the mouth of Cromarty Firth, it is seaward from ...