It was the first design for Chantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine (CAMS) by their new head designer, Maurice Hurel. The prototype was displayed at the 1926 Salon de l'Aéronautique in Paris and first flew the same year. After testing was ordered into service before the end of the year.[1] It was a conventional biplane flying boat very similar to previous CAMS designs, being driven by a pusher propeller whose engine was mounted on struts in the interplane gap. The first production version was the amphibious CAMS 37A that was bought by the French Navy, the Portuguese Navy and the aeroclub of Martinique.
Flown cover carried on the first US to Europe "catapult" air mail from the Ile de France at sea to Paris, August 23, 1928
The aircraft operated from every French Naval Air Station and from many capital ships.
René Guilbaud made a long-distance flight over Africa and the Mediterranean between 12 October 1927 and 9 March 1927, venturing as far as Madagascar before returning to Marseille. In the course of the flight, he covered 22,600km (14,000mi) in 38 stages without incident.
The CAMS 37 was gradually withdrawn from front line duties in the mid-to-late 1930s, and when World War II started in September 1939, the aircraft had been relegated to training and communication roles. On mobilisation, however, CAMS 37/11 trainers were used by two units for coastal patrol, with one unit, Escadrille 2S2 continuing in service until August 1940.[1] Outside mainland France, CAMS 37/11 trainers continued in use with a Free French unit in Tahiti until 15 January 1941, and with a Vichy France unit in Indochina until 1942 [1]
CAMS 37 photo from Annuaire de L'Aéronautique 1931
Four-seat liaison / trainer wooden-hulled version (110 built).[10]
37/12
civil version with enclosed four-seat cabin (one built).[11]
37/13
(or 37bis) metal-hulled version for catapult launching from ships.[12]
37GRCAMS 37GR photo from L'Aérophile December,1926
(GR – Grand Raids) A single long-range aircraft converted for the 37C prototype, flown by Lieutenant de Vaisseau Guilbaud, from l'Etang de Berre, in the company of Lioré-Olivier LeO H-194 on 12 October 1926, for a proving flight to Madagascar. On 3 January 1927 the engine threw a connecting rod, causing Guilbaud to abandon the Madagascar flight and return to Marseille on 9 March 1927, via Sudan, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Malta and Tunisia.[13]
37LIA
(aka 37 A/7):see above
37C
A single commercial transport prototype, converted to the sole 37GR
Parmentier, Bruno. "C.A.M.S. 37 GR". Aviafrance (in French). Paris. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
Bousquet, Gérard (2013). French Flying Boats of WW II. Sandomierz, Poland: Stratus. ISBN978-83-63678-06-7.
Cortet, Pierre (March 1999). "Des C.A.M.S. à coque "metal"" [C.A.M.S. Introduces a Metal Hull]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (72): 37–39. ISSN1243-8650.
Cortet, Pierre (December 1999). "Courrier des Lecteurs" [Readers' Letters]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (81): 4. ISSN1243-8650.
Esperou, Robert (April 1994). "Les vols d'essais commerciaux français sur l'Atlantique Nord, de 1928 à 1939" [French commercial test flights over the North Atlantic, 1928 to 1939]. Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French) (293): 40–50. ISSN0757-4169.
Morareau, Lucien (June 1998). "Courrier des Lecteurs" [Readers' Letters]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (63): 2–3. ISSN1243-8650.
Morareau, Lucien (April 1999). "Courrier des Lecteurs" [Readers' Letters]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (73): 2–3. ISSN1243-8650.
Morareau, Lucien (December 1998). "L'escadrille du bout du monde" [Squadron at the End of the World]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (69): 42–51. ISSN1243-8650.
Morareau, Lucien (January 1999). "Des CAMS sur le Pacifique: L'escadrille du bout du monde (fin)" [The CAMS over the Pacific: Squadron at the End of the World]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (70): 45–53. ISSN1243-8650.
