In 1930, the
French Navy issued a specification for a small, two-seat
seaplane, which was required to operate from French navy ships and carry out observation duties. The aircraft needed to have folding wings for storage aboard ship, and would be launchable by
catapult. The specification resulted in proposals from Bodiansky (the
Bodiansky 30),
Chantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine (the
CAMS 90),
Gourdou-Leseurre (the
GL-831) and
Levasseur (the
Levasseur PL.12) as well as from
Potez. Potez's design, the Potez 45, which was produced by a team led by engineer M. Delaruelle, was a single-engine
parasol monoplane flying boat of mixed wood and metal construction. The wings had an unswept centre-section and swept, folding outer sections, which were fitted with
leading-edge slats. The engine nacelle was mounted on the front of the wing centre-section. The pilot and observer sat in separate cockpits in the hull. The prototype Potez 45, powered by a
Salmson 9AB radial engine, was completed in March 1932 and was sent to the
Étang de Berre for testing, making its first flight in April that year. After initial testing, the aircraft's stabilizing floats were redesigned and moved further outboard on the wings. Thus modified, on 5 September, the aircraft was sent to
Saint-Raphaël for official testing. Here, the Potez was criticised for its handling on the water, with the aircraft tending to dig into waves rather than skim over them, and was also considered underpowered. As a result, the prototype, has again modified, with the hull fitted with a lengthened nose to improve its performance on water, and the stabilizing floats modified again, while the engine was replaced by a
Hispano-Suiza 9Qd (a license-built
Wright R-975 Whirlwind) rated at . These changes were successful, and an order for 10 production aircraft, designated Potez 452 was placed in 1935, with six more aircraft ordered in October 1936. The Spanish Navy also had a requirement for a replacement for its obsolete
Macchi M.18s, and after testing in February 1936, Spain acquired a
manufacturing license for the Potez, but the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War prevented any Spanish production. On 1933, the French Navy issued a requirement for a seaplane fighter aircraft, to be capable of being catapulted from the navy's cruisers. Potez decided to respond with a single-seat derivative of the 452, the Potez 453, which competed against floatplanes from
Bernard (the
H.52),
Loire (the
210) and
Romano (the
R.90). A
supercharged Hispano-Suiza 14Hbs radial engine replaced the Hispano-Suiza 9Qd, while the airframe was refined to reduce drag. Armament was two fixed forward-firing machine guns, with provision to add a cannon (which was never fitted). The prototype Potez 453 made its first flight on 24 September 1935. While the aircraft demonstrated a maximum speed of , the high-mounted powerful engine on a small airframe caused a strong nose-down trim when at high power, making take-off difficult, and development was abandoned, with the Loire 210 winning the competition and reaching production. ==Operational history==