Macchi M.5 - Italian users

The first prototype of the Macchi M.5, which was labelled as the type flew for the first time in 1917 and was developed by engineers Buzio & Calzavera. Based directly on the previous Macchi M.3, it consisted on a single-step hull with an open cockpit placed forward on the wings, three more prototypes were tested, designated "Ma", "M bis" and "Ma bis" and the production version, finally was named as "M.5".
Like it's prototypes, it was powered by an Isotta-Fraschini 4Vb engine placed in a pusher configuration that could deliver 160hp of power. The first units were handed over to the Aviazione della Regia Marina (Aviation of the -Italian- Royal Navy) in the summer of 1917. A later sub-version was produced with redesigned wingtip floats and a more powerful engine, an Isotta-Fraschini V.6, placed also in the pusher configuration and delivering the respectable amount of 247hp of power. In total 244 of them were produced, 200 by Macchi itself and other 44 of them by Societá Aeronautica Italiana (SAI).

It was operated by the Royal Italian Navy's naval squadrons during The Great War with very satisfactory results. Some of them served also in the seaplane carrier Giuseppe Miraglia before they were scrapped after the creation of the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) in the successive years.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macchi_M.5
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters