Marinens Flygväsende - Navy Aviation

In the Navy, the advantages of the aeroplane for reconnaissance at sea were early understood. An aircraft could patrol large areas and deliver reports to bases or ships in a relatively short time.

The Swedish Navy got its first aircraft in December 1911, about half a year before the Army. It was a donation and not used very much. The politicians were not very generous to the naval aviation, and it had during the pioneer years to rely on further donations. In 1913, a special Aviation Corps ”Marinens Flygväsende (MFV) was founded in Stockholm. In the same year the Navy’s flying school was established at the Fortress of Oscar-Fredriksborg. After a year it was moved to the naval base at Hårsfjärden.

The outbreak of WWI became a great challenge for the aviators. In the beginning of the war, MFV just had only a few aircraft to its disposal. The pilots had no experiences in flying in bad weather or in winter. The airframes were fragile things and had to be repaired almost daily.

But both the aircrews and the ground personnel made wonders. The Navy aviation became an important part in the neutrality guard. Merchant ships were convoyed, reconnaissance for mines and foreign warships were done. It could be problems to get unwelcome foreign warships to leave Swedish waters. The aviators only threatened the intruders. They never fired any weapons at them. No wonder, their aircraft were all unarmed.

For aircraft used by Marinens Flygväsende, see the list below.

Click on the thumbnails for pictures and descriptions.

	Nyrop N:o 3/Blériot XI 1911-1913			Nieuport IVm 1913-1914
	Donnet-Lévêque 1913-1918			Morane Saulnier MS 3G/Thulin B 1915-1917
	Farman HF 23/Södertelge Verkstäder SW 11 1914-1920			Thulin G – Thulin GA 1917-1922
	Friedrichshafen FF 33 1918-1929			Friedrichshafen FF 49C 1919-1925
	Fairey III D 1924-1925			Macchi M.8/Savoia S.13 1919-1922
	Supermarine Channel II 1921-1922			”Hansa” No. 31 and 32-41 1921-1931
	”Hansa” numbers 42-47, 1924-1935			Albatros B.IIa 1919-1929
	Avro 504 K 1924-1929			LVG C.VI 1921-1924
	Heinkel HE 3 "Paddan" 1923-1927			Bibliography

Updated 2013-04-28

e-mail: henriksson@avrosys.nu