The Savoia-Marchetti S.55 is a twin-engine twin-hull monoplane flying boat designed and produced by the Italian aircraft manufacturer Savoia-Marchetti. It filled both commercial and military roles.
The S.55 first flew in August 1924 and S.55s were soon setting records for speed, payload, altitude and range, and they made a number of successful high profile Atlantic crossings, including the first mass formation crossings, which introduced a new word to English, a "Balbo", meaning a large formation of aircraft. Many saw service with the Regia Aeronautica and foreign operators including the Spanish Air Force as bombers and maritime patrol aircraft, while numerous airlines such as Aeroflot also operated the type. One example even flew with an Alaskan bush airline. While some were still nominally in service at the start of the Second World War, they played no role due to their age and the last examples were stricken from the books by 1943 in Italy and Romania.
