The Sopwith T.1 Cuckoo was a British

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 ...

torpedo bomber used by the

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 ...

(RNAS), and its successor organization, the Royal Air Force (RAF). The T.1 was the first landplane specifically designed for carrier operations, but it was completed too late for service in the First World War. After the Armistice, the T.1 was named the Cuckoo.Davis 1999, p. 123.

Design and development

In October 1916, Commodore Murray Sueter, the Air Department's Superintendent of Aircraft Construction, solicited Sopwith for a single-seat aircraft capable of carrying a 1,000 lb torpedo and sufficient fuel to provide an endurance of four hours. The resulting aircraft, designated T.1 by Sopwith,Robertson 1970, p. 125. was a large, three-bay biplane. Because the T.1 was designed to operate from carrier decks, its wings were hinged to fold backwards. The T.1 could take off from a carrier deck in four seconds, but it was not capable of making a carrier landing and no arresting gear was fitted.Davis 1999, p. 122.Robertson 1970, p. 127. A split-axle undercarriage allowed the aircraft to carry a 1,000 lb Mk. IX torpedo beneath the fuselage. The prototype T.1 first flew in June

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

, powered by a 200 hp

Hispano-Suiza 8 The Hispano-Suiza 8 was a water-cooled V8 SOHC aero engine introduced by Hispano-Suiza in 1914, and was the most commonly used liquid-cooled engine in the aircraft of the Entente Powers during the First World War. The original Hispano-Suiza ...

Ba engine.Thetford 1978, p. 318. Official trials commenced in July 1917 and the Admiralty issued production orders for 100 aircraft in August.Robertson 1970, p. 125. Contractors Fairfield Engineering and Pegler & Company had no experience as aircraft manufacturers, however, resulting in substantial production delays.Layman 2002, p. 191. Moreover, the

S.E.5a The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the fast ...

had priority for the limited supplies of the Hispano-Suiza 8. Redesign of the T.1 airframe to accommodate the heavier

Sunbeam Arab The Sunbeam Arab was a British First World War era aero engine. Design and development By 1916 the demand for aero-engines was placing huge demands on manufacturing. To help ease the pressure the War Office standardised on engines of about ; ...

incurred further delays.Layman 2002, p. 191. In February 1918, the Admiralty issued a production order to

Blackburn Aircraft Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north- ...

, an experienced aircraft manufacturer. Blackburn delivered its first T.1 in May 1918.Thetford 1978, p. 318. The aircraft immediately experienced undercarriage and tailskid failures, requiring redesign of those components.Robertson 1970, p. 127. The T.1 also required an enlarged rudder and offset vertical stabilizer to combat its tendency to swing to the right.Robertson 1970, p. 127. Fairfield and Pegler finally began production in August and October, respectively.Davis 1999, p. 123. A total of 300 T.1s were ordered, but only 90 aircraft had been delivered by the Armistice. A total of 232 aircraft had been completed by the time production ended in 1919.

produced 162 aircraft, while Fairfield Engineering completed 50 and Pegler & Company completed another 20.Thetford 1978, p. 318. After the Armistice, many T.1s were delivered directly to storage depots at Renfrew and Newcastle.Davis 1999, p. 123.

Operational history

After undergoing service trials at RAF East Fortune, the T.1 was recommended for squadron service. Deliveries to the Torpedo Aeroplane School at East Fortune commenced in early August 1918. Training took place in the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

, where Cuckoos launched practice torpedoes at targets towed by destroyers. Cuckoos of No. 185 Squadron embarked on HMS ''Argus'' in November 1918, but hostilities ended before the aircraft could conduct any combat operations.Davis 1999, p. 123. In service, the aircraft was generally popular with pilots because the airframe was strong and water landings were safe. The T.1 was easy to control and was fully aerobatic without a torpedo payload.Robertson 1970, p. 127. The Arab engine proved unsatisfactory, however, and approximately 20 T.1s were converted to use Wolseley Viper engines.Thetford 1978, p. 318. These aircraft, later designated Cuckoo Mk. IIs, could be distinguished by the Viper's lower thrust line. The Arab-engined variant was designated Cuckoo Mk. I.Davis 1999, p. 123. The Cuckoo's operational career ended when the last unit to use the type, No. 210 Squadron, disbanded at Gosport on 1 April 1923.Thetford 1978, p. 318. The Cuckoo was replaced in service by the Blackburn Dart.

Planned use

Throughout 1917, Commodore Sueter proposed plans for an

aerial torpedo An aerial torpedo (also known as an airborne torpedo or air-dropped torpedo) is a torpedo launched from a torpedo bomber aircraft into the water, after which the weapon propels itself to the target. First used in World War I, air-dropped torped ...

attack on the German High Seas Fleet at its base in Germany.Layman 2002, p. 191. The carriers , , and HMS ''Campania'', and the converted cruisers HMS ''Courageous'' and HMS ''Glorious'', were to have launched 100 Cuckoos from the North Sea.Layman 2002, p. 191. In September 1917, Admiral

Sir David Beatty Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (17 January 1871 – 12 March 1936) was a Royal Navy officer. After serving in the Mahdist War and then the response to the Boxer Rebellion, he commanded the 1st Battlecruiser Squadro ...

, commander of the Grand Fleet, proposed a similar plan involving 120 Cuckoos launched from eight converted merchant vessels.Layman 2002, p. 192.

Survivors

Today, no complete Cuckoo airframe survives, but a set of Cuckoo Mk. I wings are preserved at the

National Museum of Flight The National Museum of Flight is Scotland's national aviation museum, at East Fortune Airfield, just south of the village of East Fortune, Scotland. It is one of the museums within National Museums Scotland. The museum is housed in the original ...

in Scotland.

Variants

;Cuckoo Mk. I : Main production variant. Powered by a 200 hp (149 kW)

engine. ;Cuckoo Mk. II : Mk. I converted to use a 200 hp (149 kW) Wolseley Viper engine. ;Cuckoo Mk. III : Prototype powered by a 275 hp (205 kW) Rolls-Royce Falcon III engine. ;Sopwith B.1 : Single-seat bomber powered by a 200 hp (149 kW) Hispano-Suiza 8 engine. Two prototypes built.

Operators

;: *

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service The was the Naval aviation, air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War. The Japanese military acquired their first air ...

- Operated six Cuckoo Mk. II aircraft. ;: *

* Royal Air Force **

No. 185 Squadron RAF No. 185 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed in World War I and reformed as a bomber and fighter unit in World War II. It then reformed in Malta in the post war period as a jet fighter squadron. History Formation and World War I No. ...

- Used Cuckoo from October 1918 but was disbanded the following year. **

No. 186 Squadron RAF No. 186 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed on 1 April 1918 at East Retford, providing night pilot training for home defence and on the Western front. On 31 December 1918 it was reformed as an operational shipboard unit aboard . In 1919, ...

- Used Cuckoo from late 1918. Was renamed No. 210 Squadron in 1920. **

No. 210 Squadron RAF ("Hovering in the Heavens")Halley 1988, p. 274. , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= , anniversaries= , decorations= , battle_honours= Western Front, 1916–18 Ypres 1917 Lys Atlantic 1939–45 A ...

- Formed in 1920 from No. 186 Squadron, and continued to use the Cuckoo until 1 April 1923 when the unit disbanded.

Specifications (Mk. I)

Notes

References

* Bruce, J. M. ''Sopwith B.1 & T.1 Cuckoo: Windsock Datafile 90''. Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, UK: Albatros Publications, 2001. . * Davis, Mick. ''Sopwith Aircraft''. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press, 1999. . * Layman, R. D. ''Naval Aviation In The First World War: Its Impact And Influence''. London: Caxton, 2002. . * Robertson, Bruce. ''Sopwith – The Man and His Aircraft''. London: Harleyford, 1970. . * Thetford, Owen. ''British Naval Aircraft Since 1912''. London: Putnam, 1994. . {{Authority control 1910s British bomber aircraft Military aircraft of World War I Cuckoo Carrier-based aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1917