Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven 945

Imperial German Navy seaplane Number 945 was the sole example of a unique seaplane design produced during the First World War.[1][2][3][4] Throughout the war, the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven had been producing small numbers of training seaplanes for the German Navy, but as the conflict continued, they built a small number of armed types as well, including Number 945.[1] While the general layout of this aircraft was conventional enough for its day, it included a number of unusual features. The single-bay wings were braced with single, large I-struts, and the vertical stabiliser was virtually non-existent, consisting of little more than a stub on the dorsal side of the rear fuselage.[2] The rudder was hinged to the end of the fuselage and hung down below it.[2] The Navy classified it as a C3MG type; indicating armament with both fixed and trainable machine guns.[5]

No. 945
Role Fighter seaplane
National origin Germany
Manufacturer Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven
First flight 1917
Number built 1

Number 945 was ordered in 1917, and a photograph of the completed aircraft exists, bearing its military markings and serial number.[2] However, there is no record of this aircraft ever being delivered to the Navy.[1]


Specifications

Data from Kroschel & Stützer 1994, p.155

General characteristics

  • Crew: Two
  • Powerplant: 1 × Benz Bz.III , 110 kW (150 hp)

Armament

  • 2 × fixed, forward-firing 7.9 mm machine guns
  • 1 × trainable 7.9 mm machine gun

Notes
  1. Nowarra 1966, p.78
  2. Gray & Thetford 1962, p.450
  3. Kroschel & Stützer 1994, p.154
  4. Taylor 1989, 547
  5. Kroschel & Stützer 1994, p.113

References
  • Gray, Peter; Owen Thetford (1962). German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam.
  • Herris, Jack (2015). German Seaplanes of WWI: Sablatnig, Kaiserliche Werften, Lübeck-Travemünde, LTG, & Oertz: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Seaplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 15. n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-935881-27-8.
  • Kroschel, Günter; Helmut Stützer (1994). Die Deutschen Militärflugzeuge 1910–1918. Herford: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn.
  • Nowarra, Heinz J. (1966). Marine Aircraft of the 1914–1918 War. Letchworth, Harts: Harleyford Publications.
  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
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