| Baby | |
|---|---|
 Sopwith Baby in use with theRoyal Norwegian Navy Air Service | |
| General information | |
| Type | scout and bomber floatplane |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Sopwith Aviation Company |
| Status | Retired |
| Primary users | Royal Naval Air Service |
| Number built | 386[note 1] |
| History | |
| Introduction date | 1915 |
| First flight | September 1915[1] |
| Developed from | Sopwith Schneider |
| Variant | Fairey Hamble Baby |
TheSopwith Baby is a British single-seatfloatplane that was operated by theRoyal Naval Air Service (RNAS) from 1915.
The Baby (also known as the Admiralty 8200 Type) was a development of the two-seatSopwith Schneider. The Baby utilized a wooden structure with fabric covering. ALewis Gun was fitted, either above the fuselagefiring through the propeller arc without the benefit of synchronization, or over the top wing, firing above it.[2] To meet the more demanding conditions of 1916–18, further modifications were made on aircraft built byBlackburn Aircraft at Leeds,United Kingdom. A modified variant of the Baby, theFairey Hamble Baby was built byFairey andParnall.
The Royal Naval Air Service ordered 286 Sopwith Babies of which 100 were built by Sopwith at Kingston and 186 byBlackburn Aircraft at Leeds with others for export. License manufacture was also undertaken inItaly bySA Aeronautica Gio Ansaldo ofTurin, who built 100 examples for the ItalianAviazione della Regia Marina.[3]
The Baby was used as a shipbornereconnaissance andbomber aircraft operating fromseaplane carriers andcruisers, as well asnaval trawlers andminelayers. Many Babies were attached to RNAS coastal air stations located in England and Scotland and RNAS stations in Egypt, Greece and Italy.[4]
A major role of the Baby was to warn ofGermanZeppelin raids as far fromBritain as possible, along with tracking German naval movements.
Babies also saw service with the navies of theUnited States,France,Chile,Greece andNorway. In Norway additional Babies were built as replacements, with some seeing service until 1930. Two of the 10 Sopwith Baby floatplanes that were acquired by theRoyal Norwegian Navy Air Service were brought to Svalbard in the summer of 1928 to participate in the search for the lost Norwegian polar explorerRoald Amundsen, but were not used for the search.
The original components of two Babies built by Sopwith, Nos. 8214 and 8215, have been utilized to complete a composite aircraft for display at theFleet Air Arm Museum atRNAS Yeovilton, Somerset. The exhibit has been marked with the serialN-2078, which was a Blackburn-built aircraft, and has been namedThe Jabberwock.[5]
Kingdom of Italy
Japan
Data from Jane's Vintage Aircraft Recognition Guide[1]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Related development
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