| Giant Boat / GB | |
|---|---|
| Role | Maritime patrol aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Naval Aircraft Factory |
| Status | Canceled |
| Primary user | United States Navy |
| Number built | 0 (prototype not completed) |
The Naval Aircraft Factory Giant Boat or GB was a 1919 maritime patrol aircraft project undertaken by the Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF), the in-house aircraft production arm of the United States Navy. The proposed flying boat was larger and heavier and would have possessed a longer range than any similar type then in existence, but the project was hampered by labor and funding shortages stemming from deep post-World War I U.S. military budget cuts, and in 1921, navy leaders prioritized other aircraft types and ended the project. The single incomplete prototype is believed to have been broken up after 1925.
Historian William F. Trimble describes the Giant Boat as an "aberration" that "stretched the technological capabilities of the day, especially in the areas of propulsion, aerodynamics, materials, and drag reduction."[1] Flying boats with ranges and maximum takeoff weights exceeding the design specifications of the Giant Boat would not emerge until the mid to late 1930s.[2]