Sopwith Snipe Herbert Smith, the chief designer of the Sopwith Company, began to design a fighter intended to be the replacement for Sopwith's most famous aeroplane, the successful Sopwith Camel. The resultant design, called Snipe by Sopwith, was in its initial form a single-bay biplane, slightly smaller than the Camel, and intended to be powered by similar engines. The pilot sat higher than in the Camel while the centre-section of the upper wing was uncovered, giving a better view from the cockpit. Armament was to be two Vickers machine guns. In the absence of an official order, Sopwith began construction of two
Sopwith Special torpedo seaplane Type C Sopwith Special torpedo seaplane Type C The Sopwith Special torpedo seaplane Type C was the first British aircraft designed to drop torpedoes. A single-engine biplane seaplane, it flew in July 1914 but proved unable to lift the design load and was soon abandoned. The Admiralty's interest in torpedo delivery by aircraft began in November 1913, expressed by an order placed with Sopwith for a "mock-up" seaplane torpedo carrier, the Sopwith Type TT. This was intended only to taxi, not fly; its trials extended over the following May and June. In February 1914, before trials of the Type TT had begun,