Before the single-seat Sopwith 7 F 1 Snipe assumed its final production form the design underwent several major changes in wing and tail assembly configuration.

The Sopwith 7 F 1 Snipe first appeared in early 1918 and by the Armistice was in service with several squadrons. A squadron comprised the fighter element of the force which took over responsibility of policing in Iraq from October 1922.

Of the 264 Snipes built before the war ended, only 97 saw service on the Western Front. Some 497 were in use with the RAF until 1926 and gradually replaced by the Gloster Grebe and Armstrong Whitworth Siskin from 1923.

Gallery

Replicas:
Antique Aero Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe
Pfeifer Sopwith Snipe

Engine: 1 x Bentley B.R.2, 170kW / 231 hp
Wingspan: 30 ft 2 in / 9.17 m
Length: 19 ft 8 in / 6.02 m
Height: 2.9 m / 10 ft 6 in
Wing area: 25.2 sq.m / 271.25 sq ft
Max take-off weight: 917 kg / 2022 lb
Empty weight: 595 kg / 1312 lb
Max. speed: 105 kt / 194 km/h / 121 mph at 19,999 ft
Service ceiling: 20,000 ft / 3050 m
Time to 6500 ft: 5.2 min
Endurance: 3 hr
Range: 297 nm / 550 km
Crew: 1
Armament: 2 x 7.7 mm Vickers machine-guns
Bombload: 4 x 9kg

The T.1 was designed to a requirement for a torpedoplane that was to be used in an attack against the German High Seas Fleet at its home anchorage at Wilhelmshaven on the Jade River. A formal proposal was forwarded to the Admiralty by the Admiral of the Grand Fleet at the time – Adm Sir David Beatty, although it was written by Herbert Richmond, captain of the battleship HMS Conqueror and Sqn Cdr Frederick Rutland. As a result of the proposal, Beatty had 200 Cuckoos ordered. Due to production difficulties – the Cuckoo was one of a number of aircraft that were not considered a high priority and therefore had production allocated to satellite firms inexperienced in aircraft manufacture – and the very unreliable 149Kw / 200 hp Sunbeam Arab engine.

The Cuckoo was a three bay biplane with two spar wooden wings and wooden fuselage, with fabric covering. Ailerons were fitted to all four wings. The wings folded rearward for storage on board ships.

Sopwith T.1 Cuckoo Article

The prototype Cuckoo torpedo-bomber flew in June 1917 and was powered by a 200 hp Hispano-Suiza engine.

Initially the first contract to build the T.1 was offered to the Fairfield Shipbuilders in Glasgow but because the rate of production was so slow, Blackburn took over their order. Blackburn built N6950 was the first production Cuckoo to reach the training field, East Fortune in Scotland. The other company to build the T.1 was Pegler and Co brass fitters of Doncaster, their rate of production was not very high either. Blackburn built the most Cuckoos of over 200 built. Sopwith only built the prototype.

Cuckoos did not reach the fleet airfield’s fast enough before the Armistice and the raid, scheduled for mid 1918 never took place.

Production aircraft first appeared with 149kW Sunbeam Arabs as T.1 Cuckoos and entered service in the latter half of 1918, first going to sea on board HMS Argus on 19 October. In the first batch of Cuckoos built by Blackburn were three with Wolseley Viper engines. These became Mk IIs together with others built immediately after the war. Armament of the Cuckoo was a 450mm torpedo. Maximum level speed was 166km/h.

The first aircraft carrier based torpedo squadron, No.185 Sqn was formed at East Fortune on 7 October 1918, but was declared ready for ops from Argus later that month, although they did not embark aboard ship at that early stage. The first recorded landing of a Cuckoo aboard Argus wasn’t until June 1919.

One example of the Cuckoo III was built, powered by a Rolls Royce Falcon engine, but this was not pursued.

In 1921 six Cuckoos and a small naval aviation team was sent to Japan as the British Mission, lead by Colonel the Master of Sempill, to advise the Imperial Japanese Navy in naval aviation matters. Other aircraft sent include Avro 504Ls on floats, Sopwith Pups, Gloster Sparrowhawks and two Blackburn Swift torpedoplanes. Although the Cuckoos and the Swifts were used only for training, there is no doubt that they made landings aboard Hosho, Japan’s first aircraft carrier. Photos survive showing Swifts and Cuckoos carrying out torpedo drops in Tokyo Bay.

Engine: One 200 h.p. Sunbeam Arab
Prop: 2 blade
Wing span 46 ft 9 in / 14.24 m
Length 28 ft 6 in (8.68 m.)
Height: 10 ft 8 in
Wing area: 566 sq.ft
Weight empty 2,199 lb. (997 kg.)
MTOW: 3883 lb
Max speed: 103 mph (166 kph) at 2000 ft
Ceiling: 12,100 ft. (3,700 m.) fully loaded
Endurance: 4 hours
Seats: 1
Armament: One 18 in. (45 cm.) torpedo

Designed and built for the Admiralty, the unarmed prototype was completed in December 1915, and series deliveries to the RNAS followed from February 1916. The Sopwith two-seater, quickly named the 1½ Strutter because of the unusual arrangement of its central mainplane bracing struts. The 1 1/2-Strutter was both the first British aircraft to be built with a synchronised gun as standard equipment and the first true two-seat fighter to see RFC service.

A single-bay biplane with two-spar wooden wings and wooden fuselage with fabric covering, the 1 1/2-Strutter featured air brakes in the lower wing and an adjustable-incidence tailplane. At an early production stage, armament was standardised on a synchronised 7.7mm gun with a second weapon of similar calibre on a Scarff ring mounting in the rear cockpit. A single-seat bomber version was built in parallel, some examples of this variant being converted as two-seat fighters.

The 1 1/2-Strutter was used by the RNAS in both escort and (without observer) bombing roles, and 77 of the first 150 aircraft ordered by the Admiralty were transferred to the RFC.

A single-seat bomber version was used by the Royal Naval Air Service and by French units. Single and two seat 1½ Strutters equipped the first unit ever formed as a strategic bombing force; No.3 Wing Royal Naval Air Service.

Initial production aircraft were powered by the 110hp Clerget 9Z ninecylinder rotary engine, but, in the autumn of 1916, this gave place to a 130hp Clerget 9B.

It was widely used by escadrilles of the French Aviation Militaire as well as Belgian and United States air forces. French production of the aircraft considerably exceeded the numbers of British built 1½ Stutters.

At least 1,513 1 1/2-Strutters were built in the UK (by the parent company, Fairey Aviation, Hooper & Co, Mann, Egerton & Co, Ruston, Proctor & Co, Vickers Ltd, Wells Aviation and Westland Aircraft). The 1 1/2-Strutter was licence-built in France as a single- and two-seat bomber (SOP 1B1 and 1B2) and two-seat reconnaissance aircraft (SOP 1A2), primarily with the 110hp and 135hp Le Rhone 9J and 9Jby nine-cylinder rotaries, 4,500 allegedly being produced by Liore et Olivier, Hanriot, Amiot, Bessoneau, Darracq, REP and Sarazin Freres. The US government procured 514 from France, and others were supplied to Belgium and Imperial Russia.

Replica:
Aviation Preservation Society of Scotland Sopwith 1½ Strutter

Engine: Clerget 110 hp
Prop: 2 blade
Wingspan: 10.21 m / 33 ft 6 in
Length: 7.69 m / 25 ft 3 in
Height: 3.12 m / 10 ft 3 in
Wing area: 32.14 sq.m / 345.95 sq ft
Max take-off weight: 975 kg / 2150 lb
Empty weight: 592 kg / 1305 lb
Fuel capacity: 40 Imp.Gal
Max. speed: 161 km/h / 100 mph
Service ceiling: 16,000 ft
Endurance: 4 hr 15 min
Armament: 1 x Vickers MG / 1 x Lewis gun
Bombload: 2 x 65 lb

Engine: Clerget 130 hp
Prop: 2 blade
Wingspan: 10.21 m / 33 ft 6 in
Length: 7.69 m / 25 ft 3 in
Height: 3.12 m / 10 ft 3 in
Wing area: 32.14 sq.m / 345.95 sq ft
Fuel capacity: 40 Imp.Gal
Armament: 1 x Vickers MG / 1 x Lewis gun
Bombload: 2 x 65 lb

The Pup or Scout Tractor was Sopwith’s follow-up fighter to the type 9700 or 1 1/2 Strutter and got its name as a smaller single-seat version. A single-bay biplane, the wings were two spar, with steel-tube tips and trailing edge. Ailerons were on all four wings. The fuselage is all wood, and tailplane wood except for a steel rear spar. Other tail surfaces were steel construction. The entire airframe is fabric covered.

The prototype serialled 2691 was first flown in February 1916. The Pup was original powered by an 80 hp Le Rhône 9C, 9 cylinder, air-cooled rotary engine. Several alternative engines were fitted, including the 100 hp Gnome Monosoupape.

It was ordered by the Admiralty for the Royal Navy Air Service to serve on the Western Front, where it arrived in September 1916. A total of 170 aircraft were built for the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS).

Although underpowered, the Pup was a fine aircraft with good maximum speed and climb and excellent manoeuvrability – especially when the torque of the engine was exploited for fast turns. The battles of Ypres, Messines and Cambrai kept the Pup locked in combat and helped to establish its reputation as a ‘pilot’s aircraft’.

Armed with a single synchronous Vickers .303 machine gun, it was superior to the Fokker D.III. Soon it was underpowered for combat on the Western Front when the German put the Albatros DIIIs in service. Although underpowered, pilots liked the plane because it was manoeuvrable and fast. It could climb and hold its altitude better than any other fighter. The Sopwith Pup remained in service on the front until late 1917 when it was replaced by the Sopwith Camel. After removal from the front it was used as a Home Defence unit fighter. Some were occasionally armed with Le Prieur rockets for anti-Zeppelin patrols.

About 1770 airframes of the Sopwith Pup were built by and under license for the Sopwith Aviation Company Ltd.

Notwithstanding their Naval origins, the majority of Pups constructed served with the Royal Flying Corps, with a total of 1670 built initially as fighters. They were also involved in the training role from 1918. In 1919, eleven Pups were supplied to the Australian Flying Corps as part of the Imperial Gift. Upon formation of the RAAF in 1921, the aircraft were allotted to No 1 Flying Training School at Point Cook for use as an intermediate fighter trainer until 1930.

One of the best remembered exploits of the Pup was its use in determining the feasibility of landing conventionally wheeled aircraft on board aircraft carriers. In June 1917 the first takeoff was made from the gun turret platform of HMS Yarmouth. On 2 August 1917 a Pup, flown by Squadron Cdr E. H. Dunning, landed on the deck of HMS Furious, so recording the first landing of an aeroplane on a moving ship. Grab straps attached to the aircraft enabled deck crew to pull it to rest.

When another landing was attempted on 7 August, the Pup stalled and went over the side of the carrier into the sea and Dunning was killed. Nevertheless the results were sufficiently encouraging for the experiments to continue and the Royal Navy became the first service in the world with an effective carrier force.

Gallery

100% Scale Replica:
Airdrome Airplanes Sopwith Pup
Pruitt Sopwith Pup
The Vintage Aviator Ltd / TVAL Sopwith Pup
Jones, Wes Sopwith Pup
St.Cyrien Pup

Engine: Le Rhone 9C, 80hp / 59kW
Wing Span: 26 ft 6 in / 8.1 m
Length: 19 ft 3.75 in / 5.9 m
Height: 9 ft 5 in
Wing area: 23.6 sq.m / 254.03 sq ft
Empty weight 787 lb / 357 kg
Loaded weight: 1,225 lb / 556.0 kg
Fuel capacity: 19.25 Imp.Gal
Crew 1
Climb: 10,000ft/14 mins
Ceiling 17,500 ft / 5,300 m
Speed: 97 kt / 111 mph / 180 kph (sea level) 103 mpg @ 9,000 ft
Endurance: 3 hours
Range: 162 nm / 300 km / 186 miles
Armament: 1 x Lewis MG or 1 x Vickers MG
Rockets: 8 x Le Prieur rockets

Engine: Gnome Monosoupape, 100 hp
Span: 26 ft 9 in
Length: 19 ft 7 in
Height: 9 ft
Empty weight: 868 lb
Loaded weight: 1313 lb
Wing area: 254 sq.ft
Wing loading: 4.8 lb/sq.ft
Armament: 1 x Vickers mg
Crew: 1
Max speed: 106 mph at 6500 ft
Service ceiling: 17,500 ft
ROC: 650 fpm to 6500 ft
Endurance: 3 hr

Designed as a progressive successor to the Sopwith F.1 Camel, the first prototype Dolphin passed out of the Sopwith experimental department on May 23, 1917. A two bay biplane, with equi-span backward staggered wings, the Dolphin was designed to carry two fixed and synchronised 7.7mm Vickers guns either one or two guns of similar calibre mounted over the wing centre section and movable, but usually firing forwards and upwards. Ailerons were fitted to all four wings. The pilot was seated with his head in the open framework connecting the upper mainplanes. The back staggered wing arrangement gave its pilots a superb view, but was less satisfactory in the event of crash landing. Primarily of fabric-covered wire-braced wooden construction with an upper centre section of steel tube, the Dolphin was powered by a 200hp Hispano-Suiza geared eight-cylinder water-cooled engine in its initial production form. The prototype had a car type radiator which was changed for side radiators on production aircraft.

The prototype was flown in late May 1917, the first production contract was placed in the following month, on 29 June, and quantity deliveries to the RFC began late in the year. 19 Squadron, the first operational unit to be fully equipped, received replacements for its former French Spad S7s; 19 Squadron’s official badge still has a dolphin motif.

Only three more RFC/RAF units were wholly Dolphin equipped. In England, 79 Squadron began receiving Dolphins on December 15, 1917; then proceeded to France in February 1918, and began operations in the following month. In France, 23 squadron replaced its Spads in April 1918; while later in the same month 87 Squadron arrived from England fully equipped. Several other units were initially intended to use Dolphins, but in the event used other types of aircraft.

A small number of Dolphins were issued to home defence units, and 141 Squadron operated one flight for a period; while large scale production of the type was planned in France with a view to equipping both French and American units. At least five examples were bought and evaluated by the US Air Service in late 1918. The decision was taken to licence-build a version for the US Air Service in France. This, the Dolphin Mk II powered by a 300hp Hispano-Suiza engine, was to be manufactured by the SACA (Societe Anonyme des Constructions Aeronautiques) and the Air Service anticipated taking delivery of 2,194 by mid 1919. In the event, only a few Dolphin Mk IIs were completed before the Armistice prompted cancellation of all contracts.

Difficulties with the reduction gear of the original 200hp engine led to the conversion of many to direct drive, aircraft fitted with the modified power plant being designated Dolphin Mk III and some engines having their compression ratio raised to boost output to 220hp.

In operational service over the Western Front, the Dolphin proved highly successful, having the distinct advantage of a higher fighting ceiling than most of its contemporaries. Although ostensibly a four gun fighter, in practice most pilots discarded the upper Lewis guns in favour of less weight and thereby improved performance. Nevertheless, in 87 Squadron at least, several Dolphins experimented with fixed Lewis guns on the lower wings. When employed on ground-strafing duties, Dolphins were fitted with under fuselage racks to carry four 11.3 kg (25 1b) Cooper bombs. In combat, many of the Dolphin pilots ran up appreciable victory tallies, such as F W Gillet, DFC, of 79 Squadron (17), R B Bannerman of 79 Squadron (16) and A D Carter of 19 Squadron (at least nine victories in Dolphins). A further indication of the machine’s fighting ability was 87 Squadron’s claims for a total of 89 combat victories all claimed by Dolphin pilots, in only seven months of fighting.

Just before the Armistice a further Dolphin unit came into being No.1 Squadron, Canadian Air Force – but this unit saw no operational service. By mid 1919, all other Dolphin squadrons had been disbanded within the Royal Air Force.

A total of 1,532 Dolphins were built, of which all but 121 were built during 1918.

Gallery

Dolphin Mk I
Engine Hispano Suiza, 200 hp
Span: 9.9 m (32 ft 6 in)
Length: 6.8 m (22 ft 3 in)
Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 263.25 sq.ft
Maximum speed: 205 km/h (127.5 mph) at 10,000 ft
Service ceiling: 6400 m (21000 ft)
Weight empty 1,406 lb. (638 kg)
MTOW: 2008 lb
Fuel capacity: 27 gal
Seats: 1
Armament: 2-3 7.7mm Vickers mg
Bomb load: 100 lb. (45 kg.)
Endurance: 1.75 hours

Dolphin Mk III
Engine: 220 hp Hispano Suiza
Max take-off weight: 907 kg / 2000 lb
Empty weight: 665 kg / 1466 lb
Wingspan: 9.90 m / 33 ft 6 in
Length: 6.78 m / 22 ft 3 in
Height: 2.59 m / 9 ft 6 in
Wing area: 24.46 sq.m / 263.28 sq ft
Max. speed: 206 km/h / 128 mph