The introduction of the Sopwith Pup into service in 1916 was an immediate game changer. Even today, over 100 years later, most historians generally consider the Pup to be one of the most important aircraft of WWI.
Arguably, the Pup is one of the most important aircraft ever built! The tactics that the Pup was built around was copied by Britain’s allies and enemies alike during the war.
These tactics would then be used in WWII, and even partly in the Cold War and today!
Pre-Sopwith Pup
On June 28 1914, Gavrilo Princip shot and killed the Archduke of Austria and his wife. This would set off a chain reaction that would lead to the largest war in modern human history (at the time).
What was then-called the Great War, now-called World War One, erupted on July 28 1914, encompassing almost all of Europe. The first battles would begin in August that same year.
Initially, these battles were land based entirely (both Germany and Britain abstained from naval battles in order to protect their navies).
Over time, military officers, on both sides, began to see the potential benefits of using aircraft during these battles…
To begin with, this was as scout aircraft. Aircraft would fly over enemy trenches and would note down the number of soldiers, machine guns and anything else worth noting, and pass it on to the infantry.
Over time, these same officers realized that if you could add weapons to these scout aircraft, you potentially had another way to attack your enemy. This birthed ground attack aircraft, and later, fighters.
The original WWI fighters were converted scout aircraft, but they were slow. Both sides wanted aircraft that were faster than the current fighters, and thus, would be harder to hit, from both the ground and air!
Development
At the time, British air defense was split into two major factions, the Royal Flying Crops, under the Army’s jurisdiction, and the Royal Naval Air Service, under the Royal Navy’s jurisdiction. Both would later form the present day RAF.
Both services saw this, and contacted a number of aircraft manufacturers to make this happen in 1915. One of these aircraft manufacturers was the Sopwith Aviation Company, located in Kingston Upon Thames.
Sopwith began work right away, using an unbuilt design for a racing aircraft as the base. Sopwith would build the aircraft and have it tested by their chief test pilot, Harry Hawker.
Hawker would then use his previous experience as a mechanic and engineer to suggest alterations to the design to make it a more formidable aircraft.
Sopwith would pioneer the use of ailerons on small aircraft, rather than using the then-common wing warping technique. as with most aircraft of the era, the Pup was also made out of wood and fabric, rather than metal.
By early 1916, Sopwith had a workable prototype, and design to back it up. The company would complete a few test flights of its own before passing it off to the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), who would test it at Upavon.
Service History
Following the Pup’s first flight on February 9 1916, the Sopwith Pup would enter service in October 1916. From here, the Sopwith Pup would have a rather interesting service life, perhaps one of the best in history!
Entrance to France
The RNAS would receive their first Pups in March 1916, before sending them to France in October that same year. Here, they would be deployed to the Somme, remembered for being one of the bloodiest battles in history.
Here, the Sopwith Pup would enter service, and be tasked with ground attack roles. Their main objective was to destroy German machine guns, that were cutting down the Entente infantry in large numbers.
By the end of the Somme campaign, the British Admiralty claimed that the Pup had destroyed over 20 German machine guns.
The first Royal Flying Corps Sopwith Pups appeared in December that year, and were tasked with fighter roles. Here, it would face off against the Albatros D.II, Fokker D.II, and Halberstadt D.II.
British Pups soon proved to be quite formidable, shooting down record numbers of German fighters. German pilots feared the Pup, as it was faster and more maneuverable than their own aircraft, as well as having more ammo.
During some battles, Royal Flying Corps Pups would fly alongside RNAS Pups in ground attack roles.
Usually, this was how they started, before German aircraft would attack, and then the Royal Flying Corps Pups would break off and have dogfights with the German fighters.
Aircraft Carrier Use
Over the course of WWI, the world’s major powers (on both sides) became interested in the potential naval applications for aircraft. As such, they began to develop runways that would be built on top of a ship.
Today, we call these ships, aircraft carriers.
By 1917, the British already had one commissioned aircraft carrier, the HMS Furious. Not to mention another three then under development.
As one of the Royal Flying Corps’ best fighters, as well as one of the smallest (and therefore lightest!), the Pup was perfect for the narrow runways and confines of the earliest aircraft carriers.
On August 2 1917, surprising the entire world, Squadron Commander Edwin Dunning became the first person to land an aircraft on a moving ship. And what aircraft did he use? A Sopwith Pup!
in the waning months of 1917, the HMS Furious was being deployed to the northern coast of France. From there, Sopwith Pups and later, Sopwith Camels, would be deployed to fight German forces, or defend Britain’s skies.
For much of 1917, the British would use the Pup to test the Furious’ runway. The Americans took notice and soon started using their own Pups for tests on their own aircraft carriers, mostly in what is now Cuba.
Use as a Trainer
Upon the Pup’s introduction into service in 1916, the Germans had been working on aircraft of their own that outclassed the Pup in almost every regard. By late 1917, these aircraft had been introduced.
Naturally, they did just as they were designed to, obliterating a number of Pups before the year’s end.
As such, the British, alongside Sopwith, were forced to design newer fighters that could outclass Germany’s newest fighters.
In late 1917, the British introduced the Sopwith Camel and Sopwith Dolphin, which quickly replaced the Sopwith Pup on the frontlines. For the Pup, it was shipped back to the UK, and placed in storage.
Eventually, the Royal Flying Corps realized that the Pup had served as the framework for both the Camel and Dolphin, in at least some regard. More importantly, the Pup had the same cockpit layout as the Dolphin and Camel.
Due to this, the Royal Flying Corps, as well as the Australian Flying Corps (predecessor to the RAAF, then-located in the UK) began to use the Pup as an intermediate trainer.
Once student pilots had graduated from the Avro 504 basic trainer, they’d train on the Sopwith Pup. Following this, they’d be put in a Camel or a Dolphin and be sent to France.
Interceptor Aircraft
By late 1917, the Pup had been withdrawn almost completely from active frontline service against German fighters. However, not all of the Pups needed to be used as intermediate trainers.
Also in 1917, the German Air Force increased bombing runs on major British cities such as London. Beginning in 1917, they had phased out their Zeppelin airships in favor of lighter and faster Gotha G.V bombers.
The G.V would takeoff from Germany and travel over to London during the night. By the time the G.V had gotten there, it was early morning, and the pilots could make out buildings like Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
From there, they would drop their bombs and return home.
Due to the nature of these attacks, the usual tactics were not effective, but the British couldn’t continue to allow their country to be destroyed. Generals noted that the G.V was lightly armed and armored.
This gave the Royal Flying Corps the idea to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. They’d get the rest of their Sopwith Pups back in the sky, and solve their bombing problem.
From late 1917 until the end of the war, the majority of the Pups would fly to try and shoot down G.V bombers. In essence, this made the Pup the world’s first interceptor aircraft, in everything but name.
Post-WWI Service
The war famously ended at 11:11 on November 11 1918. Following this, hostilities between the Entente and the Central Powers ended.
For both sides, they’d sunk a large portion of their economy into the war effort, producing a large amount of weapons they no longer needed. For the aerial branches of their militaries, they’d received thousands of aircraft.
But with no war to fight, these aircraft sat idle, gathering dust in hangars scattered across the world. Due to this, many of the world’s military leaders chose to sell many of these aircraft at below market value.
The newly formed RAF (which was formed in April 1918) chose to sell a large number of its Pups to private buyers. Most of these private buyers were former Pup pilots during WWI, who bought the Pup they’d flown during the war.
Here, the majority of these Pups would be used as barnstorming aircraft (essentially, airshow aircraft, before there actually were airshows). As trained military pilots had been laid off, but still wanted ot fly.
This would continue well into the 1930’s and even the 1940’s. With the establishment of the first airshows, the Pup would become quite common there too, lasting even until today in some parts!
Specifications
Between 1916 and 1918, the ever-changing natures of WWI caused the British Government to order a number of different variants of their famed Sopwith Pup fighter.
In total, almost 1,800 Pups were produced, in one of four different variants. Most often these were the same old Pup, just with newer, more powerful engines.
By far the most common variant of the Pup was the standard Pup, powered by the 80 horsepower Le Rhône engine.
| Specifications | Sopwith Pup 80 hp Le Rhône |
|---|---|
| Height | 9 ft 5 in (2.87 m) |
| Wingspan | 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) |
| Length | 19 ft 4 in (5.9 m) |
| Crew | 1 |
| Max. Speed | 112 mph (180 km/h, 97 kn) |
| Range | 337 mi (542 km, 293 nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 17,500 ft (5,300 m) |
| MTOW | 1,226 lb (556 kg) |
| Armament | 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun |
What Was it Like to Fly on The Sopwith Pup?
Sadly, there are no WWI veterans still alive today. The last verified WWI veteran died in 2011. As such, there is no chance of interviewing any pilots who flew the Sopwith Pup during the Great War.
Thankfully, there are a number of people who are still interested in WWI aviation, and like to see those aircraft still flying. As such, there are people who do actually fly the Pup, that I could interview!
I was able to interview a Pup pilot, who regularly flies one of the few remaining Pups during airshows. This is what he had to say about the Pup:
The Pup is unlike any aircraft flown today. When you look at its specs, you’ll probably scoff at it, especially its speed – after all, its max speed is the stall speed of most aircraft produced since 1960!
However, when you get in the aircraft, you realize: “This is the best aircraft of the 1910’s!”
Even despite this, the aircraft is surprisingly maneuverable. When I first learned to fly on the Pup, I expected it to clunky and difficult to handle. Whilst it doesn’t handle like a jet aircraft does, it still handles quite well.
You bank left, it banks left almost immediately, not like the few seconds lag you get on most jet aircraft, including small ones. You bank right, it’s the same. You pull up or down, and it’s the same too”
In all honesty, I really enjoy flying the Pup, it’s certainly one of the best aircraft I’ve ever flown!
Why Did Sopwith Produce so Many Pups?
Between 1916 and 1918, a total of 1,770 Sopwith Pups were produced, mostly for the Royal Flying Corps.
The overwhelming majority of Pups were produced by subcontractors such as Standard Motor Co., Whitehead Aircraft, and William Beardmore & Co. among others.
Many people will say that the only reason the Pup was produced on such a large scale was because of the war. Whilst the war did help this, it wasn’t the sole reason why the Pup so produced so much.
The real reason was down to superiority. The British saw that the Pup was so formidable against German fighters, and as such, never needed to produce 100 different types of aircraft to confuse the Germans.
Almost every pilot in the Central Powers had heard of the Sopwith Pup. Almost every pilot in the Central Powers knew what the Pup looked like, and where the major “hotspots” of Pups were.
It was so bad, that even the famed German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen was scared of the Pup!
Legacy
Thanks mostly to the Pup’s impeccable service life, the Pup left a rather incredible legacy on the aviation industry, some of which we can still see today. Almost 100 years later!
Sopwith
Prior to the war, Sopwith was just another of Britain’s many aircraft manufacturers. Prior to the war, those that did know Sopwith simply knew it as the producer of the Sopwith Tabloid seaplane, which they built in early 1914.
Following the outbreak of the war, Sopwith became quite famous for producing seaplanes, and later, land-based biplanes and triplanes. This included the Sopwith Pup.
The introduction of the Pup took the Entente powers by storm. Within a few months, it had become one of the best aircraft in the Entente fleet. And as the manufacturer, Sopwith, became quite famous.
When Sopwith introduced its other aircraft like the Camel, 1 1/2 Strutter and Dolphin, pilots knew that they were getting one of the best aircraft. This likely helped with Entente pilot’s moral in the latter years of the war.
Sopwith Pup
Following the war, the Pup would be used as a barnstorming aircraft. This would continue well into the 1930’s, even in spite of the Great Depression, as well as the 1940’s.
During the 1950’s and 1960’s, the first modern airshows would be established (as we know them today!) With this, the Pup would also become quite popular, as a warbird display.
Beginning in the 1980’s, a number of aviation museums would become interested in acquiring the Pup. As of the time of writing, there are only three Pups still in airworthy condition and on display in museums.
After the war, Sopwith would attempt to produce a civilian variant of the Pup, which it called the Sopwith Dove. Only ten were built and one remains in airworthy condition as of the time of writing.
Future Aircraft
When the British were looking for a replacement for the Pup, they would turn to Sopwith for the answer. The aircraft that Sopwith would respond with was the Sopwith Camel.
Sopwith had designed the Camel using the Pup’s design as a starting point. As such, both the Camel and Pup were rather similar visually, and were often painted in similar colors if the two aircraft ever flew together.
Prior to the Pup, if a pilot wanted to try and shoot down another pilot, he’d have to use a handheld rifle or pistol. However, the speed of the Pup made this nigh-on impossible to properly aim it.
They tried attaching a machine gun at the front, however, found that the gun kept on shooting the propeller. As such, they developed a synchronized propeller mechanism that allowed the pilot to shoot and fly safely!
What do you think of the Sopwith Pup? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Airwolfhound via Flickr.