Sopwith Aviation Company
Formerly | Sopwith Aviation Company |
---|---|
Industry | Aviation |
Founded | 15 December 1913 |
Founder | Thomas Sopwith |
Defunct | 16 September 1920 |
Fate | Ceased trading |
Successor | H.G. Hawker Engineering |
Headquarters | Kingston-on-Thames, UK |
Products | Aircraft |
Number of employees | 5,000 |
The Sopwith Aviation Company was a British
In April 1919, the company was renamed as the Sopwith Aviation & Engineering Company Limited. In September 1920, the company entered voluntary liquidation after an attempt to build motorcycles failed. The patents and other assets were bought by a new company, H.G. Hawker Engineering.
Early years
The Sopwith Aviation Company (based at
First World War
The company made more than 16,000 aircraft during the First World War. Many more of the company's aircraft were built by subcontractors rather than by Sopwith themselves. These included
Towards the end of the war, Sopwith took out a lease on National Aircraft Factory No.2, constructed in 26 weeks during the winter of 1917 a mile to the north of the Canbury works in Ham. The company were able to greatly increase production of Snipe, Dolphin and Salamander fighter planes as a result.[4] At the beginning of the war the company had 200 employees; this had reached 6,000 employees by the Armistice.
Post-war diversification and failure
After the war, the company attempted to produce aircraft for the civil market based on their wartime types. These included aircraft such as a single-winged Camel and the
We much regret we find it impossible to reopen the works, as the difficulties caused by restricted credit prevent the company from finding sufficient capital to carry on the business, and it will be therefore wound up.
— H G Mitchell, [6]
At a meeting of creditors held in October 1920 it was explained that although the company had previously accumulated a surplus of £900,000 in 1918, following a slump in the sale of motorcycles the company had liabilities of £705,430 (which included £583,510 for excess profits duty) and assets of £862,630. The amount of excess profit duty was being disputed by the company which had already paid £450,000 in duty. The meeting concluded that the best result would be to sell the business as a going concern.[5]
The Ham factory, which was included in 38 acres of freehold land, was sold to Leyland Motors.[4] The newly formed H.G. Hawker Engineering Company obtained the Sopwith patent rights and a government contract to refurbish Sopwith Snipe biplanes.
Hawker Engineering
Upon the liquidation of the Sopwith company, Tom Sopwith himself, together with
Present day
In 2021, the Sopwith Aviation name was acquired by Welsh engineering firm Bevan Davidson International, who plan to release a line of celebratory motor vehicles in celebration of the history of Sopwith.[7] A two-seater sports car, styled and named after the Sopwith Dove was revealed at the London Concours car show later that year.[8]
Famous Sopwith aircraft
Initially, Tom Sopwith himself, assisted by his former personal mechanic Fred Sigrist, led the design of the company's types. Following a number of pre-war designs for the Royal Naval Air Service, such as the
In 1916,
Experimentally equipped with three narrow-chord wings and a more powerful engine, the Pup led to the
In the early summer of 1917, the twin-gun Camel fighter was introduced. This aircraft was highly manoeuvrable and well-armed, and over 5,000 were produced up until the end of the War. It destroyed more enemy aircraft than any other British type, but its difficult flying qualities also killed very many novice pilots in accidents. It was used, modified, as both a night-fighter and shipboard aircraft, and was flown in combat by the Belgian and American Air Services as well as the British.
Later still in front-line service came the stationary-engined four-gun Dolphin and the ultimate rotary-engined fighter, the Snipe. The Snipe saw little wartime service, being issued only in small numbers to the Front, but William George Barker, the Canadian ace, won a Victoria Cross flying one in an epic single-handed dogfight against enormous odds.
Towards the end of the war, the company produced the Cuckoo torpedo-bomber and the Salamander armoured ground-attack development of the Snipe, but these types were too late to see action. Many other experimental prototypes were produced throughout the war, mostly named after animals (Hippo, Gnu etc.), leading to some referring to the 'Sopwith Zoo'.
Following World War I, the Sopwith Snipe was chosen as the standard fighter of the much-reduced Royal Air Force, and soldiered on until finally replaced in the late 1920s.
Aircraft
Pre-World War I
- Sopwith-Wright Biplane (1912)
- Sopwith Hybrid Biplane (1912)
- Sopwith Three-seater (1912)
- Sopwith Bat Boat (1913)
- Sopwith Sociable (1913)
- Sopwith 1913 Circuit of Britain floatplane -See Sopwith Bat Boat Improved Type 2 (Circuit of Britain)
- Sopwith Admiralty Type C (1914)
- Sopwith Special torpedo seaplane Type C
- Sopwith 1914 Schneider Racer
- Sopwith Type SPGNor "Gunbus"
World War I
- Sopwith Admiralty Type 137
- Sopwith Type 806
- Sopwith Type 807
- Sopwith Type 860
- Sopwith Two-Seat Scout
- Sopwith Tabloid
- Sopwith Baby
- Sopwith Sparrow
- Sopwith 1½ Strutter
- Sopwith Pup
- Sopwith Triplane
- Sopwith L.R.T.Tr.
- Sopwith Hispano-Suiza Triplane[10]
- Sopwith Bee
- Sopwith Camel
- Sopwith B.1
- Sopwith Hippo
- Sopwith Cobham Twin Engine Bomber
- Sopwith AT "Aerial Target" – radio controlled guided missile
- Sopwith Dragon
- Sopwith Snipe
- Sopwith Dolphin
- Sopwith Salamander
- Sopwith Cuckoo
- Sopwith Bulldog
- Sopwith Buffalo
- Sopwith Rhino
- Sopwith Scooter
- Sopwith Swallow
- Sopwith Snail
- Sopwith Snapper
- Sopwith Snark
Post World War I
- Sopwith Gnu
- Sopwith 1919 Schneider Cup Seaplane
- Sopwith Atlantic
- Sopwith Antelope
- Sopwith Wallaby
- Sopwith Rainbowracer
- Sopwith Grasshopper
See also
References
- Bruce, J.M. The Sopwith Fighters Vintage Warbirds No. 5 Arms & Armour Press 1986 ISBN 0-85368-790-0
- Bruce, J.M. "The Sopwith Bat-Boat" Part 1. Aeroplane Monthly, August 1991, Vol 19 No. 8. London:IPC. ISSN 0143-7240. pp. 484–487, 500.
- King, H.F. Sopwith Aircraft 1912-1920 London: Putnam, 1981. ISBN 0-370-30050-5.
Notes
- ^ Robertson, Bruce Sopwith – The Man and his Aircraft, Letchworth, Herts. Air Review Ltd, 1970 – p.32
- ^ Bruce Aeroplane Monthly August 1991, p. 486.
- ^ ISBN 1-85794-161-6
- ^ a b c "Sopwith and Hawker at the Ham Factory, North Kingston" (PDF). Kingston Aviation Centenary Project. 9 July 2012.
- ^ a b "Sopwith Co.'s Losses". The Times. No. 42535. London. 7 October 1920. p. 7.
- ^ "Sopwith Works to Close". The Times. No. 42513. London. 11 September 1920. p. 8.
- ^ "Sopwith Aviation". Retrieved 14 March 2024.
- ^ "SOPWITH DEBUT THE DOVE AT LONDON CONCOURS – Sopwith Aviation". Retrieved 14 March 2024.
- ^ "Sopwith Pup Archived 10 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine" Royal Air Force Museum. Retrieved: 18 August 2008.
- ^ Bruce, J.M. Sopwith Triplane Flight Magazine, 26 April 1957, p.556