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The Great Britain Guide

Islands · Scottish Islands

RAF Catfirth

RAF Catfirth in Orkney + Shetland, United Kingdom.

Post Office and general store - geograph.org.uk - 457103

Lis Burke — CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
4 h–12 h

About

RAF Catfirth is a place of interest in Orkney + Shetland, United Kingdom — drawn from open-data sources for visitor reference. See the linked Wikipedia article for the full description.

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From the Wikipedia article

RAF Catfirth was a First World War seaplane base located on the island of Mainland in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The base was under the control of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), and later Royal Air Force (RAF)

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

RAF Catfirth was built by the Air Construction Service and the work was started in November 1917 for the RNAS, and was transferred to the RAF when it was formed on 1 April 1918. The purpose of the base was to house and maintain Felixstowe F3 flying boats, which patrolled seas round Shetland, looking for German submarines. Though intended to house and maintain 25 flying boats, this was never required as the base was only operational from June 1918 until just after the Armistice on 11 November of that year. RAF Catfirth was closed on 15 April 1919 and the site was returned to open land, though much of the base can still be seen to this day, 100 years later. RAF Catfirth was also the site of…

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
60.2658, -1.1908
Address
Freester, Mainland, Shetland
Established
1917

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is RAF Catfirth?
RAF Catfirth is in the Scottish Islands, United Kingdom.
When was RAF Catfirth built?
Built or established in 1917.
Who owns RAF Catfirth?
RAF Catfirth is owned by Royal Naval Air Service<BR>Royal Air Force.