Unit History: RAF Calshot
RAF Calshot was initially a seaplane and flying boat station, and latterly an RAF marine craft maintenance and training unit. It was located at the end of Calshot Spit in Southampton Water, Hampshire, England, at grid reference SU487024. It was the main seaplane/flying boat development and training unit in the UK, with the landing area sheltered by the mainland, to the west, north and east, and the Isle of Wight, a few miles away to the south on the other side of the Solent. It closed in 1961.
The station was originally established on 29 March 1913 by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), as the Calshot Naval Air Station, for the purpose of testing seaplanes for the RFC Naval wing. The station was taken over by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) during the First World War and finally became a Royal Air Force station on the merger of the RNAS and the RFC on 1 April 1918
The station was originally established on 29 March 1913 by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), as the Calshot Naval Air Station, for the purpose of testing seaplanes for the RFC Naval wing. The station was taken over by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) during the First World War and finally became a Royal Air Force station on the merger of the RNAS and the RFC on 1 April 1918
