Misplaced Pages

The Sopwith Admiralty Type C was an early British floatplane designed and built by Sopwith Aviation to drop torpedoes. A single engined tractor biplane floatplane, three were delivered to the Royal Navy in November 1914 but proved unable to lift a torpedo.

Design and development

The Admiralty had ordered a special torpedo carrying biplane (the Sopwith Special torpedo seaplane Type C, serial number 170) in February 1914 and followed it with an order in July 1914 for three similar Type C floatplanes (serial numbers 157, 158 and 159). The specification called for folding wings, bomb gear, a gun and radio. Work started at the Sopwith factory at Kingston-upon-Thames on 5 April 1914 and the three Type Cs, powered by a 200 hp (150 kW) Salmson (Canton-Uneé) piston engine, were completed by October. They went to RNAS Calshot for evaluation in November 1914. The Special, tested that July, had failed to lift a torpedo and the new Type Cs were little better, failing to take off under load: 157 could not get airborne with a 14 in (360 mm) Whitehead torpedo and the other two had similar poor performance. 158 was accepted by the service on 4 February 1915 but it sank following a forced landing a few days later on 8 February. The two survivors, 157 and 159, were withdrawn from service at the end of 1915.

Operators

 United Kingdom

• Royal Naval Air Service

See also

Related lists

• List of flying boats and floatplanes

References

Notes

1. ^ Sturtivant and Page 1992, p. 40
2. ^ Goodall & Tagg 2001 pp.300-1

Sources

• Goodall, Michael H.; Tagg, Albert E. (2001). British Aircraft before the Great War. Atglen, PA, USA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7643-1207-3.
• Sturtivant, Ray; Page, Gordon (1992). Royal Navy Aircraft Serials and Units 1911-1919. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain Historians Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-191-6.

• 1910s British military aircraft
• Sopwith aircraft
• Aircraft first flown in 1914