Supermarine was founded in 1913 on the Woolston shore of the River Itchen at Southampton by Noel Pemberton Billing, an eccentric inventor and aviaton pioneer. 'Supermarine' was initially his telegraphic address and symbolised his intention to 'build boats that fly rather than aeroplanes that float'. Although taken over by Vickers in 1928, the company retained this distinctive title throughout its illustrious fifty-year life.
The coming of the legendary Reginald Mitchell in 1917 resulted in an inspired lineage of sea- and land-based commercial and military flying boats, together with a range of seaplane racers which triumphantly won the prestigious Schneider Trophy outright for Britain in 1931 and three world air speed records in the process. In turn, this led directly to his most famous and nation-saving creation, with 22,749 'Spitfires' and 'Seafires' being built for front-line service throughout World War Two.
In the post-war jet age, Supermarine produced three generations of jet fighters - the 'Attacker', the Royal Navy's first operational jet, the 'Swift', the first British swept-wing aircraft for the Royal Air Force, and the culminating 'Scimitar', the Royal Navy's first swept-wing jet aircraft. Supermarine ultimately bequeathed its exceptional aviation heritage to the British Aircraft Corporation in 1963 - and hence eventually to British Aerospace of today.
This collection of over 200 photographs portrays one of the most creative chapters in British aeronautical history.