A shipyard takes to the air

Loire began in 1925 as a division of Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, a shipbuilder at Saint-Nazaire looking for something new. The yard reasoned that its metalwork and naval know-how suited seaplanes. It started in partnership with Gourdou-Leseurre, contracting to build 257 GL-32 fighters under licence in a new factory, then split from it in 1928 and became Loire Aviation in 1930 with its own designers. Its own designs came from Asselot, Jarrion and Guegand Kerguistel.

Seaplanes for the fleet

Seaplanes were its speciality. The Loire 130 catapult flying boat won a 1936 Navy competition against five rivals, and from 1937 it served aboard most French battleships and cruisers and the seaplane tender Commandant Teste; some lasted in the colonies until 1951. On land, the gull-winged Loire 46 fighter equipped French squadrons from 1936, and its five prototypes were sent to the Spanish Republicans. The Navy ordered 150 Loire 130s, and 125 were built.

Merger and nationalisation

In 1933 Loire joined forces with Nieuport, though each kept its own factories, and the partners found themselves bidding against each other for the same fighter contract, which went to Morane-Saulnier. A full merger in 1935 created Loire-Nieuport, and in 1936 it was nationalised with Breguet’s Bouguenais plant to form SNCAO. The merged company kept two of everything, with Loire at Saint-Nazaire and La Baule and Nieuport at Issy-les-Moulineaux and Villacoublay, and its last designs, such as the LN.40 dive bomber, passed to the new state company.

Fabrikalar

• Saint-Nazaire works · Saint-Nazaire, Loire-Atlantique — Main factory, opened for licence GL-32 production
• La Baule test site · La Baule — Loire’s flight test site