The Sopwith Baby was put to good use in The Great War, charged with interception of German Zeppelin airships intending to bomb targets in Britain. Additionally, the type was fielded as an anti-ship measure and general scout, appropriately armed with 2 x 65lb conventional drop bombs to complement its single .303 Lewis machine gun - mainly added as improvised armament early on. Power was served through 1 x Clerget rotary engine developing 110 horsepower and allowing the aircraft to reach speeds of 100 miles per hour, a service ceiling of 10,000 at a rate of climb of 285 feet per minute. Endurance time was approximately two hours.
With the war expanding and eventually requiring all manner of products, production of the Baby was equally expanded to include facilities operated by Blackburn Aircraft. Fairey Aviation Company (Hamble Works) and Parnall also contributed a Baby offshoot known as the Fairey Hamble Baby which began appearing in 1917 with the Royal Air Force and Navy. Local license production was also granted to Italy, who had ultimately joined on the side of the Allies, and Babys were "born" at the Ansaldo plant in Turin.
In all, 286 of the type would be produced by the various manufacturers - Sopwith managed 100 of this total alone. The Sopwith Baby eventually stocked the inventories of Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States (Navy). The Royal Air Force also stocked the type and this across eight individual squadrons (Nos 219, 229, 246, 248, 249, 263, 269 and 270).
The Sopwith concern eventually struggled in the post-war years as their civil market entries could not compete with the glut of wartime aircraft being offered for public flying. Sopwith attempted to remain relevant and purchased ABC Motors though this endeavor failed. The Sopwith firm, and name, eventually ended in 1920 as its doors closed for the last time. Its assets were then liquidated and the Sopwith name fell to history. Thomas Sopwith then joined with Harry Hawker and others to form the new H.G. Hawker Engineering company which preceded Hawker Aircraft. Mr. Sopwith then lived until January 27th, 1989.
Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.