had previously purchased, the company established a factory with Hubert Scott-Paine as work manager. Its registered telegraphic address, used for sending telegrams and cables to the company, was; Supermarine, Southampton. Early aircraft The first aircraft built by the new company was the Pemberton-Billing P.B.1 a single-seat open cockpit biplane flying boat. Following modifications, the P.B.1 entered testing, but failed to achieve flight. Billing, who had designed the aircraft, claimed he "wanted a boat which would fly rather than an aircraft that would float". Though no proof can be found, Billing claimed that the aircraft made a short hop but other sources state that the PB.1 never flew. The sole P.B.1 was subsequently dismantled and no other examples were constructed. Another early design was the P.B.7, a flying lifeboat with detachable wings. The next significant design was the P.B.9 that used a set of wings which had been obtained from Radley-England. One example was built and while it flew it was felt that production was not worth pursuing. With no orders coming in, Billing had to sell one of his yachts and lease out part of the facilities to Tom Sopwith who used it for assembly and then testing of his Bat Boat. World War I The outbreak of the First World War saw Billing enlist in the Royal Navy Volunteer reserve, and thus he was no longer involved in day-to-day activities. With the business by now in serious financial trouble due to a lack of orders, 80 percent of the staff were fired, leaving only 14 employees. On 14 November 1914 Broughton used his resources to pay off the company's debits which allowed the company to continue in business. Some work was obtained repairing aircraft subcontracting from Sopwith. Broughton then enlisted which left Scott-Paine in charge. At some point in 1914 Carol Vasilesco died suddenly of a heart attack, which left the company without a designer. In early 1915 the company obtained work building 12 Short S.38 seaplanes under licence. Work still continued on the company's own designs with the next to see the light of day being the P.B.23. The prototype was delivered in September 1915 with tests conducted at Heldon indicating that the design had some promise. As a result, a revised version designated the P.B.25 was produced, for which an order for 20 was received from the Royal Naval Air Service. In late 1915 having completed serving