RAF Calshot

RAF Calshot
Located near Calshot in Hampshire
Aerial view, late 1920s.
RAF Calshot
Coordinates	50°49′10″N 1°18′30″W / 50.8194°N 1.3083°W / 50.8194; -1.3083
Type	Seaplane and Flying boat station Royal Air Force station
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Controlled by	Royal Air Force (1918-61)
Site history
Built	1913 (1913)
In use	April 1918 – April 1961
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War

Royal Air Force Calshot or more simply RAF Calshot was initially a seaplane and flying boat station, and latterly a Royal Air Force marine craft maintenance and training unit. It was located at the end of Calshot Spit in Southampton Water, Hampshire, England, at grid reference SU487024. It was the main seaplane/flying boat development and training unit in the UK, with the landing area sheltered by the mainland, to the west, north and east, and the Isle of Wight, a few miles away to the south on the other side of the Solent, where seaplanes and flying boats were mass-produced by Saunders-Roe. It closed in 1961. Much of the former base has been preserved, with most of the site now being occupied by the Calshot Activities Centre.