The Sopwith Admiralty Type C was an early

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

floatplane designed and built by Sopwith Aviation to drop

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

es. A single engined

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...

biplane floatplane, three were delivered to the Royal Navy in November 1914 but proved unable to lift a torpedo.

Design and development

The

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

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

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on 5 April 1914 and the three Type Cs, powered by a Salmson (Canton-Uneé) piston engine, were completed by October. They went to

RNAS Calshot RNAS Calshot was a First World War Royal Navy air station for seaplanes and flying boats, mainly operating as an experimental and training station, but also providing anti-submarine and convoy protection patrols. It was located at the end of ...

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 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

; * Royal Naval Air Service

References

;Notes ;Sources * * {{Sopwith Aviation Company aircraft 1910s British military aircraft Admiralty Type C Aircraft first flown in 1914

Design and development

Operators

See also

References