Sopwith Aviation Company

The Sopwith Aviation Company was a British aircraft company that designed and manufactured aeroplanes mainly for the British Royal Naval Air Service,
Royal Flying Corps and later Royal Air Force in the First
World War, most famously the Sopwith Camel. Sopwith
aircraft were also used in varying numbers by the French,
Belgian, and American air services during the War.

1912, they moved to the companys rst factory premises

opened that December in a recently closed roller skating
rink in Canbury Park Road near Kingston Railway Station in South West London.[1][2] An early collaboration
with the S. E. Saunders boatyard of East Cowes on the
Isle of Wight, in 1913, produced the Sopwith Bat Boat,
an early ying boat with a Consuta laminated hull which
could operate on sea or land.[3] A small factory subsequently opened in Woolston, Hampshire in 1914.[3]

History

During the First World War, the company made more

than 16,000 aircraft and employed 5,000 people. Many
more of the companys aircraft were made by subcontractors rather than by Sopwiths themselves. These included
Fairey, Clayton and Shuttleworth, William Beardmore
and Company and Ruston Proctor.
Towards the end of the war, Sopwith took out a lease on
National Aircraft Factory No.2, constructed in 26 weeks
during the winter of 1917 a mile to the north of the Canbury works in Ham. The company were able to greatly
increase production of Snipe, Dolphin and Salamander
ghter planes as a result.[4]
After the war, the company attempted to produce aircraft
for the civil market based on their wartime types, such as
the Dove derivative of the Pup and the Swallow, a singlewinged Camel, but the wide availability of war-surplus
aircraft at knock-down prices meant this was never economic. In 1919 the company worked with ABC motorcycles and produced 400cc at twin motorcycles under
licence. They also purchased ABC Motors in an attempt
to diversify, but this venture also failed. The Sopwith
company was wound up in 1920 after the business collapsed, and in the face of a potential large demand from
the government for Excess War Prots Duty. The remaining lease on the Ham factory was sold to Leyland
Motors.[4]
Upon the liquidation of the Sopwith company, Tom Sopwith himself, together with Harry Hawker, Fred Sigrist
and Bill Eyre, immediately formed H.G. Hawker Engineering, forerunner of the Hawker Aircraft and Hawker
Siddeley lineage. Sopwith was Chairman of Hawker
Siddeley until his retirement. Hawker and its successors produced many more famous military aircraft, including the inter-war Hart, and Demon; World War IIs
Hurricane, Typhoon, and Tempest; and the post-war Sea
Fury, Hunter and Harrier. These later jet types were
manufactured in the same factory buildings used to produce Sopwith Snipes in 1918 as Hawker Aircraft bought
the Ham Factory when Leylands lease expired.[4]

Thomas Sopwith, circa 1910

The Sopwith Aviation Company (based at Brooklands)

was created in June 1912 by Thomas Octave Murdoch
(Tommy, later Sir Thomas) Sopwith, a well-to-do gentleman sportsman interested in aviation, yachting and
motor-racing, when Sopwith was only 24 years old.
Following their rst military aircraft sale in November
1

Famous Sopwith aircraft

AIRCRAFT

ing 1917, but became well known for its startling ghting
qualities, put to best use by Raymond Collishaw's famous
'Black Flight' of 'Naval 10' (No. 10 Squadron RNAS).
This ight was so called due to the black identication
colour of the ights aircraft, which in turn led to their
naming as Black Maria, Black Prince, Black Death, Black
Roger and Black Sheep. Such was the impact of this type
that it spawned a large number of experimental triplane
designs from manufacturers on all sides, although only the
Fokker Triplane achieved any subsequent success.

In the early summer of 1917 the twin-gun Camel ghter

was introduced. This aircraft was highly manoeuvrable
and well-armed, and over 5,000 were produced up until
the end of the War. It destroyed more enemy aircraft than
The Sopwith Schneider (a oat-equipped Sopwith Tabloid) at
any other British type, but its dicult ying qualities also
the 1914 Schneider Trophy in Monaco.
killed very many novice pilots in accidents. It was used,
Initially, Tom Sopwith himself, assisted by his former modied, as both a night-ghter and shipboard aircraft,
personal mechanic Fred Sigrist, led the design of the and was own in combat by the Belgian and American
companys types. Following a number of pre-war de- Air Services as well as the British.
signs for the Royal Naval Air Service, such as the Three- Later still in front-line service came the stationaryseater and the Bat Boat, Sopwiths rst major success was engined four-gun Dolphin and the ultimate rotarythe fast and compact (hence the name) Tabloid, a design engined ghter, the Snipe. The Snipe saw little wartime
which rst showed the inuence of the companys test pi- service, being issued only in small numbers to the Front,
lot, the Australian Harry Hawker. A oat-equipped ver- but William George Barker, the Canadian ace, won a
sion of this aircraft won the Schneider Trophy in 1914. Victoria Cross ying one in an epic single-handed dogThe landplane version was used by both the RNAS and ght against enormous odds.
RFC at the start of the war. With higher power and
Towards the end of the war the company produced the
oats, the type evolved into the Sopwith Baby, which was
Cuckoo torpedo-bomber and the Salamander armoured
a workhorse of the RNAS for much of the First World
ground-attack development of the Snipe, but these types
War.
were too late to see action. Many other experimental proIn 1916, Herbert Smith became Chief Engineer of the totypes were produced throughout the war, mostly named
Sopwith company, and under his design leadership its after animals (Hippo, Gnu etc.), leading to some referring
other successful World War I types included the larger to the 'Sopwith Zoo'.
Type 9901. This aircraft, better known as the 1 StrutFollowing World War I, the Sopwith Snipe was chosen
ter due to its unconventional cabane strut arrangement,
as the standard ghter of the much-reduced Royal Air
was used from 1916 by the RNAS, RFC and the French
Force, and soldiered on until nally replaced in the late
Aviation Militaire as a single-seat bomber, two-seat ghter
1920s.
and artillery spotter and trainer. Soon after came the
small and agile single-seat Scout, which quickly became
better known as the Pup because of its obvious descent
from the 1 Strutter.[5] The Pup and 1 Strutter were 3 Aircraft
the rst successful British tractor ghters equipped with
a synchronisation gear to allow a machine gun to re Pre World War I
through the rotating propeller. This gear was known as
the Sopwith-Kauper gear from its designers, although sev Sopwith-Wright Biplane (1912)
eral other designs were used later. The Pup was widely
used on the Western Front by the RFC and from ships
Sopwith Hybrid Biplane (1912)
by the RNAS from the autumn of 1916 to the early sum Sopwith Three-seater(1912)
mer of 1917, and was considered a delight to y by its
pilots. It continued in use as an advanced trainer for the
Sopwith Bat Boat (1913)
remainder of the War. The Pup began the famous series
of animal-named Sopwith aircraft during the war, which,
Sopwith Sociable (1913)
as a whole, would become renowned in aviation history
Sopwith Circuit of Britain oatplane (1914) -See
as The Flying Zoo.
Sopwith Bat Boat Improved Type 2 (Circuit of
Experimentally equipped with three narrow-chord wings
Britain)
and a more powerful engine, the Pup led to the Triplane,
which was used by just four squadrons of the RNAS dur Sopwith Admiralty Type C (1914)

3
Sopwith Special torpedo seaplane Type C

Sopwith Triplane

Sopwith 1914 Schneider Racer

Sopwith L.R.T.Tr.

Sopwith Type SPGN or Gunbus

Sopwith Hispano-Suiza Triplane[6]

World War I

Sopwith Bee
Sopwith Camel

Sopwith Admiralty Type 137

Sopwith Type 806
Sopwith Type 807
Sopwith Type 860

Sopwith B.1
Sopwith Hippo
Sopwith Cobham Twin Engine Bomber

Sopwith Two-Seat Scout

Sopwith AT Aerial Target radio controlled

guided missile

Sopwith Tabloid

Sopwith Dragon

Sopwith Baby

Sopwith Snipe

Sopwith Sparrow

Sopwith Dolphin
Sopwith Salamander
Sopwith Cuckoo
Sopwith Bulldog
Sopwith Bualo
Sopwith Rhino
Sopwith Scooter
Sopwith Swallow
Sopwith Snail
Sopwith Snapper
Sopwith Snark
Post World War I
Sopwith Gnu
Sopwith 1919 Schneider Cup Seaplane
Sopwith Atlantic
Sopwith Antelope
Sopwith Wallaby
Sopwith Rainbow racer

Three views of the single-seat bomber version of the Sopwith 1

Strutter

Sopwith 1 Strutter
Sopwith Pup

Sopwith Grasshopper

4 See also
List of aircraft manufacturers

6 NOTES

References
Bruce, J.M. The Sopwith Fighters Vintage Warbirds
No. 5 Arms & Armour Press 1986 ISBN 0-85368790-0
Bruce, J.M. The Sopwith Bat-Boat Part 1. Aeroplane Monthly, August 1991,Vol 19 No. 8. London:
IPC. ISSN 0143-7240. pp. 484487, 500.
King, H.F. Sopwith Aircraft 1912-1920 London:
Putnam, 1981. ISBN 0-370-30050-5.

Notes

[1] Robertson, Bruce Sopwith The Man and his Aircraft,

Letchworth, Herts. Air Review Ltd, 1970 p.32
[2] Bruce Aeroplane Monthly August 1991, p. 486.
[3] Flying Boats of the Solent, Norman Hull. ISBN 1-85794161-6
[4] Sopwith and Hawker at the Ham Factory, North
Kingston (PDF). Kingston Aviation Centenary Project.
9 July 2012.
[5] "Sopwith Pup" Royal Air Force Museum. Retrieved: 18
August 2008.
[6] Bruce, J.M. Sopwith Triplane Flight Magazine, 26 April
1957, p.556

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