Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Single-seat fighter biplane

Power Plant:

(F-1)

One 82 kw (110 hp) Le Rhone 9J nine-cylinder rotary engine

Specifications:

Armament:

Two forward firing 7.69 mm (0.303 in) Vickers machine guns, plus up to four 11.3 kg (25 lb) bombs carried externally

History:

One of the most successful and popular single-seat fighter scouts of World War I, the Camel was an ideal vehicle for those pilots who mastered its potent peculiarities, being ideal for aerobatics and dog fighting; but it was also a vicious machine, in fact a potential deathtrap to those who did not master its idiosyncracies.

Two prototypes (serials N517 and N518) of the F.1 Camel were built by the manufacturer, Sopwith Aviation Co Ltd of Kingston-on-Thames, the first being rolled out on 22 December 1916.  Later a variant known as the 2F.1 was built, designated for shipboard operation.

First deliveries of the 2F.1 were made to the RNAS in May 1917.  A variety of engines was fitted to the type, including variants of the 97 kw (130 hp) Clerget rotary, the 82 kw (110 hp) Le Rhone, 112 kw (150 hp) Bentley BR.1, and 112 kw (150 hp) Gnome Monosoupape.

In addition to being built by Sopwith Aviation Co, it was also built by a number of other manufacturers including Ruston Proctor & Co at Lincoln and Boulton Paul Ltd at Norwich. Approximately 5,490 examples were completed, orders for others being cancelled at the end of the war. From July 1917, when the type went into service, until the close of hostilities the Camel was recorded as accounting for 980 enemy aircraft.

The Camel was the first British fighter to have two synchronised belt-fed Vickers machine guns mounted side-by-side and firing through the propeller.  It was the first aircraft to undertake dive-bombing missions in 1917; and was considered to be the first night fighter, a formation of three carrying out a night patrol on 3 September 1917.

The airframe was a wire-braced, fabric-covered wooden structure.  The pilot was placed as far forward as he could be, his feet being almost directly under the carburettor.  Each mainplane had two main spars, the profiles being of formed steel tubing and fabric covered. Ailerons were fitted to both the upper and lower wings and, like the rudder and elevators, were plain surfaces without horn balances.

First deliveries were made to the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) on 7 May 1917 from an initial batch (serials N6330 to N6379).  At this stage the RFC was interested in the type as a replacement for the Sopwith Pup and Sopwith 1½ Strutter and three were transferred from the RNAS.  The first recorded action by the Camel was on 4 July 1917 when five aircraft from No 4 Squadron RNAS based at Dunkerque in France attacked 16 Gotha bombers returning from a bombing mission on Harwich in Essex.  On 24 March 1918 Captain J L Trollope of No 43 Squadron RFC shot down six enemy aircraft in one day; and on 12 April that year Captain H W Woollett from the same unit duplicated this feat.

Australians flew the type with the Royal Flying Corps with No 71 (Australian) Squadron RFC, this unit later becoming No 4 Squadron Australian Flying Corps. It saw service also with Nos 5, 6 and 8 Training Squadrons in the United Kingdom.  One (F1946) whilst in service with No 5 Squadron AFC at Minchinhapton in Gloucestershire  in 1918 was converted to two-seater configuration for training.  Records indicated 149 served with No 4 Squadron.  One (B7281) was purchased by Tasmanian businessman, Henry Jones, owner of the IXL Jam factory in Hobart, and it was presented to the RAF because the AFC was still in the early stages of its formation.  With Tasmania IXL Jams painted on the side, it had a 97 kw (130 hp) Clerget 9B rotary engine.  It was taken on charge by No 4 Aeroplane Acceptance Park at Lincoln in the east Midlands on 17 December 1917 and allocated to the Training Brigade, serving with No 11 Training Squadron until 5 March 1918 when it crashed after an engine failure.

The Camel also saw service on board battlecruisers of the RAN and RN, including HMS New Zealand and HMASs Australia, Melbourne and Sydney, aircraft being acquired during 1918, these aircraft being known as the Sopwith Ships Camel 2F.1 and were powered by the Bentley BR.1 rotary engine.  As such the Camel was the first naval aircraft flown from a RAN ship (HMAS Sydney) to engage enemy aircraft.  These machines were flown from a platform built on top of the forward turrets.  On 1 June 1918 Camels from the cruisers HMAS Sydney and Melbourne took off to attack enemy aircraft patrolling near the British Harwich forces, and one enemy aircraft was driven down by Lt A C Sharwood from HMAS Sydney. However, he was unable to follow up the attack because of machine gun problems.

Australia’s leading ace of World War I, Captain R A Little (47 victories) was killed in action on 27 May 1918 flying Camel B6318.  Three of the leading Australian Flying Corps aces flew the Camel, these being Captain A H Cobby (29 victories), Captain E J K McCloughry (23) and Captain R King (22.5).

A few Camels saw civil service after the Great War, three (G-CYFP, G-CYFQ and G-CYFR) operating in Canada in the 1920s before being destroyed in a hangar fire; and two saw their way on to the British Civil Register (G-EAWN and G-EBER) but did not last long.  A few Camels have survived and are on display in museums around the world.  One, owned by Frank Tallman in the United States, was seen at many displays over the years, this example being built by British Caudron Co Ltd.  One original aircraft is in the collection of the Musee Royal de l’Armee et de l’Histoire Militaire in Brussels; and at least one (N6812) survives in the United Kingdom in the Imperial War Museum.

As far as can be ascertained, no Camel ever came to Australia, and the naval aircraft were only embarked whilst the ships were in Europe.  After the war as noted a small number were placed on the civil registers of the United Kingdom, Canada, and the USA, and a small number survive in museums.  A few replicas have been built for airshow flying displays.  In 1986 a non-flying replica Camel was built in Western Australia for exhibition at the RAAF Association Museum at Bull Creek, Perth.  Painted in World War I markings with the serial M6394, it is fitted with a Le Rhone rotary engine removed from one of Major Norman Brearley’s Avro 504Ks, which was used for joyriding in the early 1920s.  Another replica, built in Queensland and serialled B2404, was displayed at a Gold Coast war museum until sold in 1993.

As noted above, the 2F.1 was built for the RNAS.  The first (N4) was sent to the Test Flight Centre at Grain in Kent on 24 March 1917 but was lost in a crash three days later.  A further aircraft (N5) flew at Hendon on 3 March 1917 but was lost when it crashed at Martlesham Heath.  N5 differed from N4 in having a mounting rail for the Lewis gun to allow reloading, being fitted with racks for the operations of Le Prieur rockets, and having a wind driven generator to power a wireless.

The Naval Camel was placed in production by Sopwith, and orders were sub-contracted to Clayton & Shuttleworth, Hooper & Co, and Beardmore.  About 230 2F.1 Camels were completed with the 112 kw (150 hp) Bentley BR.1 rotary engine and production aircraft began to be delivered in October 1917 and replaced Sopwith Pups and Beardmore WB.IIIs on gun turret platforms.  Some 22 Cruisers and 25 Battleships took them on board. They were first used against German seaplanes on 1 June 1918 when the 2^nd Light Cruiser Squadron, which included HMASs Melbourne and Sydney were attacked and Camels N6756 and N6783 were launched as protection.

The pilot of N6756 Flt Lt L B Gibson ditched his aircraft alongside HMAS Centaur after 82 minutes, and the pilot of N6783, Flt Lt A C Sharwood, claimed the destruction of an enemy floatplane before ditching his aircraft near some British Destroyers.  As the Camel could not be flown back on board the launching vessel the aircraft had to ditch close to the ship or fly to land if sufficient fuel was available.  Flotation bags were built into the aircraft for the machine to remain afloat long enough for the pilot to be recovered.  Some Ships Camels were flown from Lighters towed by naval ships and a number of experiments were made launching them from British airships, including the R.23.

Further full scale replicas have been built in Australia and New Zealand and these include ZK-JKE (c/n F9509) based at Timaru, and ZK-JMU (c/n 11-11-18 – ex N4463) painted as B3889 at Omaka, the latter being a full-scale replica fitted with a 119 kw (160 hp) Gnome rotary engine.  This machine was built by Gerald Hampshire in Illinois in the USA where it was registered as N4463 in May 1985, eventually being registered in New Zealand on 26 March 2001.  In February 2003 an airworthy replica (B6299) was displayed at the Australian International Air Show at Avalon, VIC, this machine being imported from the United States for the event.  Scale examples have also been completed and registered with the Recreation Aviation Australia (RAA), one being 10-4407 (c/n C133) registered in August 2005.

An example was imported to New Zealand from the USA in 2012, this aircraft being a World War I machine sent to the United States in the 1920s which was placed in a museum in 1931.  There it remained until imported to Wellington for rebuild to airworthiness.  This machine was completed by the Vintage Aviator Limited and as a Camel F.1 was registered in February 2015 as ZK-SDL (c/n 3).