W.B.III

The Beardmore W.B.III was a British single‑engine, two‑seat floatplane developed during the final years of World War I for the Royal Naval Air Service. Designed by William Beardmore and Company in response to the Admiralty’s requirement for a more capable maritime patrol aircraft, the W.B.III first flew in early 1918 from the company’s Dalmuir works near Glasgow. It incorporated a sturdy wooden airframe covered with fabric, a 200 hp Sunbeam Maori V‑8 engine driving a two‑bladed wooden propeller, and a pair of detachable floats that allowed operation from water as well as from temporary land strips. The aircraft featured a forward cockpit for the pilot and a rear position for an observer equipped with a Lewis gun on a ring mount, providing defensive fire. Although only a limited production run of roughly thirty units was completed before the armistice, the W.B.III demonstrated Beardmore’s ability to translate shipbuilding expertise into aeronautical design. Its reliable handling, good range, and versatile float configuration influenced subsequent British naval aircraft and marked an early step toward the integration of land‑based and naval aviation in the interwar period.

William Beardmore and Company

Classification

Production & History

Design & Classification