French Seaplane Carrier Commandant Teste - Aircraft

Aircraft

Commandant Teste was designed to accommodate the naval version of the Farman F.60 Goliath torpedo bomber, but they were obsolete when she was commissioned in 1932. Biplane Levasseur PL.14 torpedo bomber floatplanes were only briefly used as they proved to be too fragile for landing at sea. They were replaced by improved Levasseur PL.15 biplanes from July–August 1934. The Latécoère 298 monoplane replaced the PL.15 in March–May 1939. The scouting squadron was initially equipped with fixed-wing Gourdou-Leseurre GL-810 floatplanes until the folding wing Gourdou-Leseurre GL-811 arrived in October 1933. They were replaced in turn by the improved Gourdou-Leseurre GL-813 in early 1936. The larger Loire 130 flying boat replaced the GL-813 from April 1938, although the catapults had to be modified to handle their greater weight. No fighter seaplanes were ever embarked on Commandant Teste, although the Loire 210 floatplane was designed for the role. However, it proved to be greatly out-classed by contemporary land-based fighters and only 20 were built in 1939.