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The Morane-Saulnier M.S.474 Vanneau IV (Plover) was a carrier-borne version of the Vanneau two-seat trainer, produced for the French Aéronavale. The original M.S.470 Vanneau had been designed by Paul-René Gauthier during the Vichy years, but made its maiden flight on 22 December 1944, after the liberation.
The M.S.470 was a tandem two-seat all-metal low winged monoplane trainer, powered by a Hispano-Suiza engine. It was adopted by the revived Armée de l'Air as the M.S.472, which was similar other than its Gnome-Rhône 14M radial engine. Production of the M.S.472 began in 1946 and the first aircraft were delivered in December of that year.
The success of the M.S.472 interested the Aeronavale, the aviation branch of the French Navy. In February 1947 a single M.S.472 was given carrier equipment, and this was followed by the production M.S.474 Vanneau IV. Deliveries of this version began in December 1947 and a total of seventy were production. Like the Air Force aircraft, the M.S.474 remained in service into the late 1960s.