Levasseur PL.15

Overview

The Levasseur PL.15 was a torpedo bomber seaplane developed in France in the early 1930s. It was a follow-on design to Levasseur's PL.14 that had, in turn, been developed from the carrier-based PL.7. While the PL.14 retained the PL.7's boat-like fuselage (developed as a safety feature for carrier-based aircraft ditching), the PL.15 was a purpose-built seaplane with an all-new, slender fuselage. The Aéronavale ordered 16 PL.15s for use aboard the seaplane tender Commandant Teste, and purchased and deployed the prototype as well. These were in service from 1933 to 1938, when they were put into storage. The PL.15s were reactivated with the outbreak of war in September 1939, and were used for anti-submarine patrol along France's Atlantic coast.