Tucked away along shore Rd in Hythe Hampshire is an unlikely grde 2 listed building. During the ‘Great War’ the shipbuilders “May, Harden & May Ltd.” erected a large hangar at Hythe knowN as the aAdmiralty Shed to build seaplane and flying boat hulls for the Admiralty. The Depot was constructed by John Mowlem and Co. between 1917 and 1918, and consisted of a large construction hangar, concrete apron, and a slipway into Southampton Water.
Designed by HM Office of Works under Sir Frank Baines the early, intact sawtooth-profile northlight roof is unique in the context of World War I flying boat factory hangars. The roof displays a stage in manufacturing workshops, solving the problem of spanning large surface areas without the need for intervening columns and thereby freeing up a floor area necessary in the first place to work on the wingspan of aircraft.
To meet their expanding production requirements for Southampton II and Seagull aircraft, and in a reversal of the earlier process, Supermarine used the Admiralty Shed for final assembly and flight testing of hulls constructed, and towed across from, their Woolston Works. With the acquisition of Supermarine by Vickers in 1928 the sheds acquired their distinctive ‘Vickers Supermarine Works’ name emblazoned across the roof.
Although often confused with the early seaplane hangars at Calshot they were used primarily for the 'garaging' of seaplanes, not production until the operation was transferred to the Woolston works in 1939 and the aircraft production at the Hythe Works ceased.
By the mid-1930s Hythe was engaged in the construction of the Seagull V, for the Australian Navy, and then its Royal Navy incarnation the Walrus, as well as Stranraers for the RAF. As before, hulls were constructed in Woolston and towed to Hythe for completion, a journey that could prove “eventful” as the three mile trip crossed the path of the great Ocean Liners and merchant ships entering Southampton’s docks.
From 1937 the Hythe depot, including the hangar, was also involved in the introduction of the air mail service when part of the works was leased to Imperial Airways as a maintenance depot for their Empire Flying Boats. Passengers were usually taken by bus to HYTHE to board the aircraft, having checked in, and cleared Customs and Immigration at one of the Southampton dock terminals.
Imperial Airways had, through negotiations with the British Government, established the Empire Air Mail Scheme, which was an intercontinental air service linking the countries of the British Empire.
This Scheme began in 1937, and the Supermarine hangar and other buildings were used for the maintenance of the new fleet of flying boats.
On Sunday, July 9, 1939 a Pan-American Airways flying boattheYankee Clipper, landed on Southampton Water carrying 19 passengers The 37-ton flying boat, had just inaugurated the first regular trans-Atlantic air passenger service between America and England, a journey that had taken 27 hours. “Yankee Clipper alighted in Southampton Water, off the Empire Air Base at Hythe, and picked up a mooring,” reported the Daily Echo the following day.
Even when, with the advent of the Second World War, the Empire Service was transferred to Poole Harbour, maintenance of the flying boats was retained at Hythe. During the Second World War the Hythe site undertook work under contract for the War Department which included the repair, maintenance and modification of four Heinkel 115s which were used to take agents into German occupied areas.
When the war finished the British Overseas Air Corporation, the successor to Imperial Airways, brought their commercial flying operation to Hythe, but the company changed to land-based aircraft and in December 1949 the BOAC flying boat services ceased and the Hythe base was closed down.
In 1953 the base was taken over by the Royal Navy as a care and maintenance base for minesweepers called HMS Diligence, and remained as such until 1963 when it was closed again.
In 1966, HMG offered the Hythe depot to the US army and The US Field Army Support Brigade/Combat Equipment Battalion (Hythe) took over. For administrative purposes all American bases in the UK needed to have a British name, and the base became RAF Hythe.
With their departure the site developed into the Hythe Marine Park, home to a number of maritime and marine projects including the development of the high-tech carbon fibre hulls of both both Rita the T3 test boats for 2017 Americas Cup.
