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The hangar was built during the First World War for the construction of flying boats for the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). During the First World War the company of May, Harden & May of Hythe occupied a ship building yard at Shore Road Hythe, and were building Felixstowe flying boats for the Royal Naval Air Service and subsequently for the RAF. On the southern side of the shipyard was a large private house called Winterton Hall, which the War Office took over and demolished, and the Admiralty built what became the Hythe Flying Boat Depot. 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.

A number of the most famous flying boats produced in Britain between the wars were constructed in this hangar. The large size of the shed at Hythe is important because it demonstrates a trend towards building bigger aircraft. This is illustrated by the fact that May, Harden & May soon took over the management of the facility for the construction of the large Felixstowe flying boats and subsequently the Fairey Atalanta. There are early seaplane hangars at Calshot, not far from Hythe and near the mouth of Southampton Water, which form an outstanding group dating to 1914 -18, most of which are now listed Grade II*. The Calshot hangars, however, appear to have been for the 'garaging' of seaplanes, not for the production of aircraft. In September 1925 the Hythe hangar was taken over by Supermarine; the Southampton firm famous for the racing aircraft which won the Schneider Trophy between the wars and for the development of the Spitfire which played an important part in the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Supermarine produced the Mark 1 Southampton and Supermarine Southampton flying boat here which were based on a design by the famous designer of the Spitfire R J Mitchell; the large hangar was refurbished, and Mark 1 and Mark 2 Southamptons, Supermarine Seagulls and Walruses (the last also designed by Mitchell) were assembled here, names significant in the history of flying-boat aviation.

In 1928 Vickers took over Supermarine, but did not start producing aircraft again until 1935 when it manufactured Supermarine Stranraers for the RAF. This work lasted until 1938, and was followed by work on the Walrus flying boats until the operation was transferred to the Woolston works in 1939 and the aircraft production at the Hythe Works ceased.

In addition to the production of famous aircraft, the Hythe depot, including the hangar, was also involved in the introduction of the air mail service. In 1937 part of the Hythe Works had been leased to Imperial Airways as a maintenance depot for their Empire Flying Boats, and as Supermarine gradually used less of the site, Imperial Airways progressively took over more until, with the closure of the Works in 1939, they took control of the whole site. 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. 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 the minesweeper HMS Diligence, and remained as such until 1963 when it was closed again.

When France left the military structure of NATO in 1966, the US army facility near La Rochelle was closed, and HMG offered the Hythe depot to the US army, an offer it accepted. The US Field Army Support Brigade/Combat Equipment Battalion - Hythe began occupation of the Hythe site in 1967, and used the base mainly for small boat repairs. This use continued until 2006. For administrative purposes all American bases in the UK need to have a British name, and the Hythe base became RAF Hythe.


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