The Sopwith Bat Boats were

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, ...

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

s designed and built from 1912 to 1914. A single-engined pusher

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 Bat Boat was the first successful flying boat and

amphibious aircraft An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft (typically fixed-wing) that can take off and land on both solid ground and water, though amphibious helicopters do exist as well. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seaplanes ( flying boats ...

built in the United Kingdom, with examples used by 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 ...

and by Greece and Germany.

Development and design

In summer 1912, the

pioneer aviator

Thomas Sopwith Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith, CBE, Hon FRAeS (18 January 1888 – 27 January 1989) was an English aviation pioneer, businessman and yachtsman. Early life Sopwith was born in Kensington, London, on 18 January 1888. He was the eig ...

, also a keen yachtsman and power-boat racer, started design of a

, to be called the "Bat Boat" after a flying machine in

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

's short story '' With the Night Mail'', to combine his interests in aviation and the sea. The resultant design was a

, powered by a

Gnome A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and i ...

in a

tractor configuration In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher c ...

. The hull, which was made of

Consuta Consuta was a form of construction of watertight hulls for boats and marine aircraft, comprising four veneers of mahogany planking interleaved with waterproofed calico and stitched together with copper wire. The name is from the latin for "sewn t ...

, (i.e.

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

sheeting sewn in place with copper wire) was built by S. E. Saunders, the shipbuilders based at

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

who were experienced in the construction of power-boats, while the wings, of about 30 ft (9.15 m) span, were built at Sopwith's flying school at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

. Although the aircraft was approaching completion by August 1912, it was abandoned and was never flown.London 2003, p. 3. Sopwith then produced a completely new design of flying boat, still called "Bat-boat", this time a

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

two-bay biplane powered by a 90 hp (67 kW)

Austro-Daimler Austro-Daimler was an Austro-Hungarian automaker company, from 1899 until 1934. It was a subsidiary of the German ''Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft'' (DMG) until 1909. Early history In 1890, Eduard Bierenz was appointed as Austrian retailer. The com ...

engine. The hull, which was again built by Saunders of Consuta, accommodated two people side by side in an open cockpit in line with the leading edge of the wings, and had a curved, vee-profile planing bottom. The wings, of 41 ft (12.5 m) span, were unstaggered, with lateral control by

wing warping Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposite direc ...

. The tail, which had no fixed fin, was carried on tailbooms connected to the wings, while an additional forward

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

was fitted to the front of the hull to supplement the normal elevator fitted to the tail. The new Bat-boat was assembled at Sopwith's new factory at

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

early in 1913, and was displayed at the International Aero Show at

Olympia, London Olympia London, sometimes referred to as the Olympia Exhibition Centre, is an exhibition centre, event space and conference centre in West Kensington, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London, England. A range of international ...

in February that year.Mason, ''Air Enthusiast'', 1982, p. 75. The Bat-Boat was sent from Olympia to Cowes for tests in March, with both Thomas Sopwith and

Harry Hawker Harry George Hawker, MBE, AFC (22 January 1889 – 12 July 1921) was an Australian aviation pioneer. He was the chief test pilot for Sopwith and was also involved in the design of many of their aircraft. After the First World War, he co-fou ...

attempting, with little success, to get the Bat Boat airborne. The Bat Boat was wrecked by a storm. A second Bat Boat soon followed, omitting the forward elevator, while a third aircraft was built using components of the first prototype, but with a 100 hp (75 kW)

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

engine and an amphibious undercarriage. Thus equipped, the third Bat Boat won the £500

Mortimer Singer Sir Adam Mortimer Singer, KBE, JP (25 July 1863 – 24 June 1929) was an Anglo-American landowner, philanthropist, and sportsman. He was one of the earliest pilots in both France and the United Kingdom. Childhood and family Singer was born in ...

prize for the first all-British amphibious aircraft on 8 July 1913.London 2003, p. 5. In 1914, Sopwith laid down a second pair of Bat Boats. These two aircraft had a similar layout to the first three aircraft, but were larger, having a span of 55 ft (16.76 m), and were powered by 200 hp

Salmson Salmson is a French engineering company. Initially a pump manufacturer, it turned to automobile and aeroplane manufacturing in the 20th century, returning to pump manufacturing in the 1960s, and re-expanded to a number of products and services ...

engines. The first of these pair was displayed at the Olympia Air Show in March 1914.London 2003, p. 9. Also in March, Sopwith commenced building a final Bat Boat to compete in the 1914 ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' Circuit of Britain race for seaplanes. This was similar to the Salmson powered Bat Boat exhibited at Olympia, but was powered by a 225 hp (168 kW) Sunbeam engine. However, the outbreak 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 ...

led to cancellation of the Circuit of Britain race.

Operational history

The second Bat-Boat was purchased by 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 ...

and delivered to Calshot Naval Air Station in June 1913, being allocated the

serial number A serial number is a unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item, to ''uniquely'' identify it. Serial numbers need not be strictly numerical. They may contain letters and other typographical symbols, or may consist enti ...

''38''. It was badly damaged, however, sinking at its moorings on 23 August 1913, having to be rebuilt again by Sopwith's. After serving at several Naval Air Stations, it was destroyed in a gale at

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009 Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

, on 21 November 1914. The third Bat Boat was also purchased by the RNAS in February 1914, and given the serial number ''118''. It was used for a night flying demonstration at the

Fleet Review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

in July 1914, and for bomb dropping trials at Calshot, being scrapped in February 1915 when it was found that its hull was badly rotted.London 2003, p. 4. The first of the two Salmson powered Bat Boats was purchased by the German Navy Air Service, being used as a trainer at

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

. The second Salmson powered Bat Boat was, after testing at Calshot of radio equipment, sold to Greece in July. The Circuit of Britain machine was subject to compulsory purchase by the RNAS following the outbreak of war. While it suffered engine problems, it remained in use until April 1915.

Variants

;Bat Boat Type 1 :Two-seat, single-engined flying boat, powered by 90 hp Austro-Daimler engine ;Bat Boat Type 1A :Amphibious version of Bat Boat Type 1, based on wreckage of first prototype and powered by British built 100 hp Green E.6 engine to compete for Mortimer Singer prize. Refitted with Austro-Daimler engine before sale to RNAS. ;Bat Boat Type 2 :Enlarged version of bat boat, powered by 200 hp Salmson engine. Two built. ;Bat Boat Type 2 (Circuit of Britain) :Improved version of Bat Boat Type 2, powered by 225 hp Sunbeam engine.

Operators

; *

Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...

; *

Greek Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of vario ...

; *

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 ...

Specifications (Bat Boat Type 2)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *
Mortimer Singer £500 Prize
. ''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'', 12 July 1913, p. 762. *
Sopwith Batboat Wrecked
. ''Flight'', 30 August 1913. p. 967. *

. ''Flight'', 21 March 1914. pp. 294–312. *

. ''Flight'', 31 July 1914. p. 800. *

. ''Flight'', 21 August 1914, pp. 873–875. *

. ''Flight'', 6 February 1919, pp. 163–174. * Bruce, J. M. "The Sopwith Bat-Boat" Part 1. ''Aeroplane Monthly'', August 1991, Vol 19 No. 8. London: IPC. . pp. 484–487, 500. * King, H. F.

. ''Flight'', 30 November 1951. pp. 677–696. * London, Peter. ''British Flying Boats''. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2003. . * Mason, Tim. "Tom Sopwith...and his Aeroplanes 1912–14". ''

Air Enthusiast ''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to '' Air International'' maga ...