In the 1930s, French Naval
Aviation launched a program to equip it with a reconnaissance seaplane
that could be used from battleships or cruisers of the French Fleet.
Five manufacturers respond to the program: Breguet with its 610,
Gourdou Lesseure with its GL-820 HY, Levasseur with its PL.200,
Potez CAMS with its 120 and finally Loire with the 130. On August
1, 1936, the Naval Aviation chooses the firm Loire and its Loire
130 and passes a first order of 45 copies.
The prototype makes its first
flight November 19, 1934. It is powered by a Hispano-Suiza 12Xbrsl
720 hp placed above the fuselage, propelling and driving a three-blade
propeller. The aircraft is a high-winged monoplane with a metal-built
fuselage, forming the central hull. Additional floats, under the
wings, complete the stability of the aircraft. The wings are foldable
and have removable salmon.for easy storage of the aircraft. The
crew consists of three men, but four other passengers can be transported.
The armament consists of two 7.5mm Darne machine guns, mobile installed
at the front and rear station. He could also embark two 75 kg bombs
or two anti-submarine grenades.
The tests revealed a lack
of stability of the aircraft in flight, which was offset by the
addition of additional drifts. The engine radiator has also been
modified. These stability problems delayed the commissioning of
the aircraft, and it was not until August 1936 that a first order
was placed, for two versions: 40 Loire 130 M (Metropolis) and 5
Loire 130 CI ( Colonial). The latter is reinforced and modified
to allow use in the colonies (notably enlarged engine radiator)
The production is carried
out at the SNCAO factory in Saint-Nazaire from August 1936.
Other orders will follow:
10 additional copies in 1936, 20 others in March 1937 and finally
19 in October 1938. This last order includes 12 Loire 130CI, intended
for the French Air Force to equip the colonies.
Note a study, in October
1939, for a wooden wing designed to preserve the resources of strategic
materials. The 18th aircraft of the series received this wing manufactured
in the factory of Saint-Nazaire. The first flight, thus equipped,
took place November 20, 1939, but remained without result.
The first Loire 130 arrived
in the units of Naval Aviation in 1938. The Loire 130 will equip
the Escadrille 7S1 embarked on the Commandant-Teste, Escadrilles
7S2 and 7S3, whose aircraft are distributed on different battleships
and cruisers of the French fleet
Overseas, the 8S2 squadrons
based in Port of France, 8S3 of Dakar and 8S4 of Tripoli received
the new aircraft. Unit endowments continued in 1939 and 1940, and
a few copies would be assigned to Air Force 1 / CBS squadron in
Indochina.
In Armisitice, 62 Loire 130
are listed with 17 in the 17S Squadron, 3 in the 18S Squadron, 6
in the 19S Squadron, 1 in Saigon, and 21 in the 1HS Squadron, all
on different ships. .
The German authorities allow
the Vichy Government to build an additional 30 Loire 130, bringing
the total number of copies made to 124 Loire 130, the last outgoing
copy of the production lines in 1941. In Naval Aeronautics Vichy,
the Loire 130 served in West Africa, Indochina, Martinique, Syria
... and participated in particular in the fight against Franco-British
forces in the Dakar affair.
With the invasion of the
free zone, the Loire 130 not captured by the Germans, join France-Libre.
The French ships that could join the Free France losing their catapult
in favor of an anti-aircraft armament, the Loire 130 are transferred
to the bases on land.
The Loire 130 will be used
until the end of the war. The last aircraft still available despite
the lack of spare parts, will be transferred in 1947 to Escadrille
8S in Indochina and the last copies will be removed from service
in 1949 to be scrapped.
