Latham

Order of Battle · Aircraft manufacturers · France

Latham

Société Latham · Société Latham & Cie

A Seine-side flying-boat maker remembered for one aircraft and one flight: the Latham 47 that vanished over the Barents Sea in 1928 with Roald Amundsen aboard.

1916Founded
DefunctStatus
4Aircraft on record
Photo: L’Année aéronautique 1921-1922 / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
CountryFranceFounded1916FoundersJean LathamHeadquartersCaudebec-en-Caux, Seine-MaritimeStatusDefunct
The story

Latham: the company and the aircraft that made its name

Flying boats on the Seine

The Latham name was already famous in French aviation when Jean Latham, cousin of the pioneer Hubert Latham, founded his company in 1916. He took over the Coutant seaplane works at Caudebec-en-Caux on the banks of the Seine and built flying boats for the French Navy: a trimotor bomber in 1919, the HB.5 in 1921 and the four-engined E-5 of 1925.

The Amundsen flight

Its best-known type, the twin-engined Latham 47, was built to a Navy requirement for a long-range flying boat with transatlantic range; 12 production aircraft and two civil 47P mailplanes followed two prototypes. In June 1928, with Umberto Nobile’s airship Italia down on the Arctic ice, France lent Roald Amundsen the second prototype, 47.02, under Commander René Guilbaud. It left Tromsø on 18 June and disappeared without trace; only a float and a fuel tank were ever found.

Afterlife of the works

The company did not outlast the decade. Its Caudebec factory passed to Félix Amiot’s SECM, then in 1930 to the government-sponsored SGA, and went on to build the Blériot 5190 flying boat and Amiot 143 airframes. A memorial to the crew of the Latham 47 has stood at Caudebec-en-Caux since 1931; in 2009 the Norwegian navy searched the seabed for the wreck.

A Seine-side flying-boat maker remembered for one aircraft and one flight: the Latham 47 that vanished over the Barents Sea in 1928 with Roald Amundsen aboard.Latham · verified 2026-10-03
At a glance

Latham in numbers

The company

In short
Founded 1916

  • Founded by Jean Latham, cousin of Hubert Latham
  • Took over the Coutant seaplane works on the Seine

Production

Best known for
Latham 47

  • Flying boats for the French Navy
  • Latham 47: 16 built including prototypes and mailplanes

Today

Now
Defunct

  • Memorial to the Latham 47 crew at Caudebec-en-Caux, 1931

The Caudebec works later served SECM, SGA and others.

The numbers

Latham 47 built
16 (2 prototypes, 12 Navy, 2 mail)
The aircraft

Every notable Latham aircraft

Aircraft Role First flight Built Status Note
Latham Trimotor Bomber flying boat 1919 Retired
Latham HB.5 Bomber flying boat 1921 Retired
Latham E-5 Four-engined flying boat 1925 Retired
Latham 47 (R3B4) Long-range reconnaissance flying boat 1928 16 Retired 47.02 lost with Roald Amundsen, 18 June 1928
Places, people, records

Where Latham built, who led it, what it achieved

Factories

  • Caudebec works · Caudebec-en-Caux, on the Seine — Former Coutant seaplane works

People

  • Jean Latham · founder — Cousin of Hubert Latham
  • René Guilbaud · French Navy commander — Captain of the lost Latham 47.02
  • Roald Amundsen · explorer — Lost aboard the Latham 47, 1928
Timeline

Latham, year by year

1916

Jean Latham founds the company at Caudebec-en-Caux

1919

Latham Trimotor bomber flying boat

1928

Latham 47 prototype flies

1928

Latham 47.02 disappears with Amundsen after leaving Tromsø

1928

Torn-off float found off Troms

1930

Caudebec factory part of the SGA group

1931

Memorial to the Latham 47 crew unveiled

2009

Norwegian navy search for the wreck

The family tree

Before and after Latham

Came afterAmiotTook over the Caudebec factory on Latham’s liquidationRead the Amiot page
Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about Latham

What happened to the Latham 47 and Roald Amundsen?
It left Tromsø on 18 June 1928 to search for Nobile’s airship Italia and vanished over the Barents Sea; only a float and a fuel tank were found.
Who founded Latham?
Jean Latham, cousin of aviation pioneer Hubert Latham, in 1916.
Where were Latham flying boats built?
At Caudebec-en-Caux on the Seine, in the former Coutant works.
How many Latham 47s were built?
Sixteen: two prototypes, twelve for the French Navy and two 47P mailplanes.

Continue the tour

Around Latham

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Sources & Further Reading

Every fact, checked

Verified 2026-10-03.