Sopwith Baby

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Baby
Sopwith Baby WW1 aircraft.jpg
Sopwith Baby in use with the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service
General information
Type scout and bomber floatplane
National originUnited Kingdom
Manufacturer Sopwith Aviation Company
StatusRetired
Primary users Royal Naval Air Service
Number built386 [note 1]
History
Introduction date1915
First flightSeptember 1915 [1]
Developed from Sopwith Schneider
Variants Fairey Hamble Baby

The Sopwith Baby is a British single-seat floatplane that was operated by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) from 1915.

Contents

Development and design

The Baby (also known as the Admiralty 8200 Type) was a development of the two-seat Sopwith Schneider. The Baby utilized a wooden structure with fabric covering. A Lewis Gun was fitted, either above the fuselage firing through the propeller arc without the benefit of synchronization, or over the top wing, firing above it. [2] To meet the more demanding conditions of 1916–18, further modifications were made on aircraft built by Blackburn Aircraft at Leeds, United Kingdom. A modified variant of the Baby, the Fairey Hamble Baby was built by Fairey and Parnall.

The Royal Naval Air Service ordered 286 Sopwith Babies of which 100 were built by Sopwith at Kingston and 186 by Blackburn Aircraft at Leeds with others for export. License manufacture was also undertaken in Italy by SA Aeronautica Gio Ansaldo of Turin, who built 100 examples for the Italian Aviazione della Regia Marina. [3]

Operational history

The Baby was used as a shipborne reconnaissance and bomber aircraft operating from seaplane carriers and cruisers, as well as naval trawlers and minelayers. Many Babies were attached to RNAS coastal air stations located in England and Scotland and RNAS stations in Egypt, Greece and Italy. [4]

A major role of the Baby was to warn of German Zeppelin raids as far from Britain as possible, along with tracking German naval movements.

Babies also saw service with the navies of the United States, France, Chile, Greece and Norway. In Norway additional Babies were built as replacements, with some seeing service until 1930. Two of the 10 Sopwith Baby floatplanes that were acquired by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service were brought to Svalbard in the summer of 1928 to participate in the search for the lost Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen, but were not used for the search.

Surviving aircraft

Composite Baby with original parts displayed at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, named The Jabberwock Sopwith Baby N2078 1 YVTN 17.07.71.jpg
Composite Baby with original parts displayed at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, named The Jabberwock

The original components of two Babies built by Sopwith, Nos. 8214 and 8215, have been utilized to complete a composite aircraft for display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset. The exhibit has been marked with the serial N-2078, which was a Blackburn-built aircraft, and has been named The Jabberwock . [5]

Operators

Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Flag of Chile.svg  Chile
Flag of France.svg  France
Flag of Greece (1822-1978).svg  Greece
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg  Kingdom of Italy
Aviazione della Regia Marina 102 examples from 1917–1923 (including 2 trials aircraft from the UK) [10]
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service operated 1 example from 1916 [11]
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States

Specifications

Sopwith Baby drawing (shown on beaching gear) Sopwith Baby dwg.jpg
Sopwith Baby drawing (shown on beaching gear)

Data from Jane's Vintage Aircraft Recognition Guide [1]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related development

Related lists

References

Notes

  1. 100 were built by Sopwith, 186 by Blackburn and 100 by Ansaldo.

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Holmes, Tony (2005). Jane's Vintage Aircraft Recognition Guide. London: Harper Collins. p. 44. ISBN   0007192924.
  2. Woodman 1989, p. 173
  3. Alegi, 2001, pp.3–4
  4. Thetford, 1878, p. 291
  5. Ellis, 1977, p. 48
  6. World Air Forces – Australia Archived 25 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine accessdate: March 2014
  7. Huertas Air International February 1984, pp. 73–74.
  8. World Air Forces – France Archived 25 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine accessdate: March 2014
  9. World Air Forces – Greece Archived 25 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine accessdate: March 2014
  10. Alegi, 2001, pp.2–4 & 8
  11. World Air Forces – Japan Archived 17 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine accessdate: March 2014
  12. World Air Forces – Netherlands Archived 25 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine accessdate: March 2014
  13. World Air Forces – Norway Archived 25 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine accessdate: March 2014

Bibliography