| 6B | |
|---|---|
 Rumpler 6B1 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Floatplane fighter |
| Manufacturer | Rumpler Flugzeugwerke |
| Primary user | German Imperial Navy |
| Number built | 88 |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1916–1918 |
| Introduction date | 1916 |
| First flight | 1916 |
| Retired | 1926 |
| Developed from | Rumpler C.I and Rumpler C.IV |
The Rumpler 6B was a German floatplane fighter designed during World War I by Rumpler Flugzeugwerke for the Imperial German Navy's (Kaiserliche Marine) Naval Air Service (Marine-Fliegerabteilung). The 6B1 was a single-seat version of the Rumpler C.I reconnaissance biplane that entered service in mid-1916. The 6B2 was an improved version based on the Rumpler C.IV; deliveries of the 6B2 began in mid-1917. Small numbers of aircraft were exported to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, and Finland; one of the Finnish aircraft participated in the Finnish Civil War. The 6B1s were reasonably successful in combat, able to hold its own against enemy land-based aircraft, but they lacked the advantages offered by the new two-seat floatplane fighters entering service when the 6B2 became available. Most surviving 6Bs became training aircraft during the war. Most of the Rumplers in service with the Central Powers were probably scrapped after the end of the war in November 1918.
After the war, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes inherited two of the 6Bs purchased by Austro-Hungarian Empire while the Netherlands used one aircraft that it had interned in 1917. The Finns purchased one additional 6B in 1918. These aircraft were generally used for training until they were scrapped during the mid-1920s.