It quickly became obsolete when it was found that Zeppelins could be more easily be destroyed by igniting their hydrogen bags using explosive bullets.

The Nighthawk was developed to counter the threat of bombing raids by German Zeppelins against the UK during the First World War.

[1] In 1916, the British Member of Parliament and aviator Noel Pemberton Billing published Air War: How To Wage It, which included promotion of the use of aircraft as a defensive measure against Zeppelins.

[2][a] The quadruplane configuration was required, as the wing surface area needed to be large enough to lift the aeroplane to the same altitude of a Zeppelin.

[5] The P.B.29E was delivered to the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) station at Chingford, Essex, where it underwent tests on 1 January 1916 and received a somewhat critical report.

[9] Drawings of the new aircraft dating from July to November 1916 have the initials of Reginald Mitchell, who become its chief designer.

[9] The comfort of the crew was considered in the design; the cockpit was enclosed and heated and sleeping quarters were provided in the form of a bunk.

[9] The Nighthawk (as it became known) first flew in February 1917, eight months after Pemberton Billing Ltd. had been sold to the airman and entrepreneur Hubert Scott-Paine and renamed the Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd.

[6] It finally became obsolete when it was found that Zeppelins could be destroyed using explosive bullets fired from a more lightly armed aircraft, which caused the oxygen-rich hydrogen bags to ignite.