The Sopwith B.1 was an experimental

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, ...

bomber aircraft of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. A single-seat, single-engined

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

, the B.1 was built by the

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, the Royal Flying Corps and later the Royal Air Force during the First World War, most famously ...

for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. Although only two were built, one was used for bombing raids over France.

Development and design

In late 1916, Sopwith, whose earlier 1½ Strutter had proved successful as a light bomber (particularly when operated as a single seater), designed a new, single-engined bomber aircraft. The new bomber was developed in parallel with the

Cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

carrier-based

torpedo bomber A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...

and closely resembled the Cuckoo. It, like the Cuckoo, was a compact

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 common ...

, powered by a 200 hp (149 kW) Hispano-Suiza water-cooled engine. Unlike the Cuckoo, the bomber's two-bay wings did not fold. It was designed as a single-seat aircraft, with the pilot sitting in a cockpit under the wing centre section to give a good view forwards and downwards for bombing. The aircraft bombload of up to 560 lb (255 kg) was carried vertically within the fuselage, in cells behind the pilot.Bruce 1957, pp. 593–596. While no orders followed from either 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 ...

, whose needs for a single-engined bomber had been met by the

Airco DH.4 The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918. Ai ...

or the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

, Sopwith obtained a license to build a prototype of the new bomber, designated Sopwith B.1 as a private venture, probably hoping for orders from the French ''Aéronautique Militaire''. This prototype first flew in early April 1917, being tested officially later that month, where it demonstrated good performance, but was tail heavy when carrying a bomb load and nose heavy without, and was tiring to fly. It was sent to France following these tests, in the mistaken belief that the French wanted to test the aircraft. Once in France, the unwanted B.1 was acquired by the British

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

, given the serial number ''N.50'' and issued to 5 Squadron, RNAS, on 16 May 1917 for operational evaluation. Fitted with a single forward-firing Lewis gun, the B.1 was flown on a number of bombing raids against targets in German-occupied Belgium. While its performance was praised, it was again noted that the B.1 was tiring to fly, and that the lack of manoeuvrability or any useful defensive armament meant that it was vulnerable to hostile fighters. The prototype B.1 was sent to the Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot on the

Isle of Grain Isle of Grain (Old English ''Greon'', meaning gravel) is a village and the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula within the district of Medway in Kent, south-east England. No longer an island and now forming part of the peninsula, the area is ...

in autumn 1917 for reconstruction as a two-seat carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft with folding wings. The initial attempts at modifying the aircraft were not successful, but the B.1 formed the basis of the

Port Victoria Grain Griffin The Grain Griffin was a British carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft developed and built by the RNAS Marine Experimental Depot, Port Victoria, during the First World War. A development of the unsuccessful Sopwith B.1 bomber, the Grain Griffi ...

, a major redesign of the B.1 with new wings and a wider fuselage. A second B.1 was built in early 1918, being fitted with the elevator control cables routed outside the fuselage in an attempt to improve control. This aircraft was purchased by the RNAS and tested at

Martlesham Heath Martlesham Heath village is situated 6 miles (10 km) east of Ipswich, in Suffolk, England. This was an ancient area of heathland and latterly the site of Martlesham Heath Airfield. A "new village" was established there in the mid-1970s and th ...

in April–May 1918.Bruce 2001, pp. 7–9.

Operators

; *

** 5 Squadron, RNAS

Specifications (B.1)

References

*Bruce, J. M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914-18''. London:Putnam, 1957. *Bruce, J. M. ''Sopwith B.1 & T.1 Cuckoo: Windsock Datafile 90''. Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, UK: Albatros Publications, 2001. . *Mason, Francis K. ''The British Bomber since 1914''. London:Putnam, 1994. . {{Authority control 1910s British bomber aircraft Military aircraft of World War I B.1 Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1917

Development and design

Operators

Specifications (B.1)

See also

References