Sopwith Baby
The Sopwith Baby was a single-seat seaplane used by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) from 1915. The Baby was a development of the two-seat Sopwith Tabloid. Although the Baby had won the Schneider trophy in 1914, the RNAS did not place a formal order until January 1915. The production version of the Baby did not differ much from the Schneider Trophy winner.
The Baby was used as a shipborne scout and bomber aircraft operating from larger ships such as seaplane carriers and cruisers, and smaller vessels such as trawlers and minelayers. It was even considered for operation from submarines. The main role of the Baby was to intercept German Zeppelin raids as far from Britain as possible.
The Baby was also built by Blackburn, Fairey, and Parnall in the United Kingdom. In Italy licensed manufacture was undertaken by SA Aeronautica Gio Ansaldo of Turin. Babies saw service with Canada, the US, France, Chile, Greece and Norway. In Norway Babies were built occasionally as replacements, with a few seeing service until 1930. A small number of Norwegian Babies were used by Roald Amundsen in his polar expedition. Altogether, about 700 Babies were built.
Manufacturing History
Operators
Specifications
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General characteristics
- Crew: one, pilot
Performance
- Endurance: 2.25 hrs
Armament
- 1 × Lewis gun
- 2 × 65 lb (28 kg) bombs
See also
Related development
Related lists