This article lists both active and historic

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...

bases in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, many of which were either used for, or planned to be used for, the defence of the UK. A seaplane base may be anything from a stretch of water where seaplanes were based to a full installation, either floating ( powered or unpowered) or shore based, where seaplanes were serviced. In the UK these are presumed to be coastal.

Active seaplane bases

Glasgow Seaplane Terminal Glasgow Seaplane Terminal is a seaplane airport terminal in Glasgow, Scotland. It opened in August 2007. The terminal is located in the 'Princes Dock' adjacent Glasgow Science Centre in the Pacific Quay area of the city. The city also has two i ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

* Oban Bay,

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, ...

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of ...

* Tobermory,

Isle of Mull The Isle of Mull ( gd, An t-Eilean Muileach ) or just Mull (; gd, Muile, links=no ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute. Covering ...

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

Proposed seaplane base

* Royal Albert Docks,

London City Airport London City Airport is a regional airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the Borough of Newham, approximately east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the twin centres of London's financial ...

Former bases

* RAF Alness,

Alness Alness (, ; gd, Alanais) is a town and civil parish in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland. It lies near the mouth of the River Averon, near the Cromarty Firth, with the town of Invergordon 3 miles (5 km) to the east, and the village of Evanton ...

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the lat ...

*Bembridge Harbour, Isle of Wight (1915-1919) *

Brough Aerodrome Brough Aerodrome was a private use aerodrome located at Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is now disused with the last known flight out of the airfield occurring in 2011. The airfield closed in 2013. It is planned that the site ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...

RNAS Calshot RNAS Calshot was a First World War Royal Navy air station for seaplanes and flying boats, mainly operating as an experimental and training station, but also providing anti-submarine and convoy protection patrols. It was located at the end of Ca ...

/ RAF Calshot,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

* RAF Castle Archdale,

Lough Erne Lough Erne ( , ) is the name of two connected lakes in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is the second-biggest lake system in Northern Ireland and Ulster, and the fourth biggest in Ireland. The lakes are widened sections of the River Erne, ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

London 2003, pp. 288–290. *

RAF Catfirth RAF Catfirth was a First World War seaplane base located on the island of Mainland in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The base was under the control of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), and later Royal Air Force (RAF) History RAF Catfirth w ...

, Shetland Islands (1917-1919) *Cromarty, Ross & Cromarty (1913-1915) *

RNAS Donibristle RNAS Donibristle is a former Fleet Air Arm base located east of Rosyth, Fife, and northwest of Edinburgh. From 1918 to 1939 the station was called RAF Donibristle. History The following units were posted here at some point: ;Royal Air Force ...

Dalgety Bay Dalgety Bay () is a coastal town and parish in Fife, Scotland. According to Fife Council, the town is home to , making this the eighth-largest place in Fife. The civil parish has a population of 10,777 (in 2011).Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

* RNAS Dundee (HMS Condor II),

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Angus *

RNAS Felixstowe The Seaplane Experimental Station, formerly RNAS Felixstowe, was a British aircraft design unit during the early part of the 20th century. Creation During June 1912, surveys began for a suitable site for a base for Naval hydro-aeroplanes, with ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

RAF Greenock RAF Greenock was a Royal Air Force station in Greenock, Scotland from 1940 to 1945. RAF Greenock was created on 10 October 1940 as a maintenance base for RAF flying boats. Seaplanes had previously been used at the site in the 1930s. The base w ...

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowland ...

Inverclyde Inverclyde ( sco, Inerclyde, gd, Inbhir Chluaidh, , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the hi ...

* RNAS Hickling Broad,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

RNAS Hornsea Mere RNAS Hornsea Mere, (also known as RAF Hornsea Mere), was a Royal Naval Air Service seaplane base located on Hornsea Mere, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The mere was used for seaplanes because it was close to the sea and because its s ...

, East Yorkshire * RAF Houton, Orkney *

RNAS Kingsnorth RNAS Kingsnorth was a First World War Royal Navy air station for airships, initially operating as an experimental and training station, it later moved on to large scale production of airships. It also provided anti-submarine patrols. A number o ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

* RNAS Lawrenny Ferry, Pembrokeshire *

RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent (HMS ''Daedalus'') was one of the primary shore airfields of the Fleet Air Arm. First established as a seaplane base in 1917 during the First World War, it later became the main training establishment and adm ...

, Hampshire *

RAF Mount Batten RAF Mount Batten was a Royal Air Force station and flying boat base at Mount Batten, a peninsula in Plymouth Sound, Devon, England. Originally a seaplane station opened in 1917 as a Royal Navy Air Service Station Cattewater it became RAF Catte ...

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

(was RNAS Cattewater) *

Newhaven Seaplane Base Newhaven Seaplane Base is today the derelict site of an experimental seaplane base at the head of the beach east of Newhaven, East Sussex, Newhaven Harbour, seaward of Tide Mills, East Sussex, Tide Mills, East Sussex, England. History The fir ...

Tide Mills Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide t ...

, east of Newhaven Harbour,

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

RAF Pembroke Dock Royal Air Force Pembroke Dock or more simply RAF Pembroke Dock was a Royal Air Force Seaplane and Flying Boat station located at Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The Royal Navy contingent left in 1926 with the Royal Air Force occupying the ...

, Pembrokeshire *

RNAS Portland (HMS Osprey) RNAS Portland (ICAO: EGDP) was an air station of the Royal Navy, situated at the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It was established in 1917 on the western edge of Portland Harbour as HMS ''Sarepta''. From 1959 the station shared the name ...

, Portland,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

RNAS Tresco RNAS Tresco was a Royal Naval Air Service base on Tresco, the second largest island in the Isles of Scilly. From February 1917 to May 1919 aircraft patrolled the Western Approaches and provided an escort for convoys. A total of thirteen U-boat ...

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of th ...

Sullom Voe Sullom Voe is an inlet of the North Sea between the parishes of Delting and Northmavine in Shetland, Scotland. It is a location of the Sullom Voe oil terminal and Shetland Gas Plant. The word Voe is from the Old Norse ' and denotes a small b ...

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the n ...

* Westgate-on-Sea,

RAF Woodhaven The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, Woodhaven,

References

*London, Peter. ''British Flying Boats''. Stroud, UK:Sutton Publishing, 2003. .

External links

HMS Osprey
{{Incomplete list, date=August 2008 Seaplane bases Seaplane bases Seaplane bases UK Seaplane

Active seaplane bases

Proposed seaplane base

Former bases

See also

References

External links