History:

The Short S.1 Cockle was a small flying-boat designed and built by Short Brothers in the United Kingdom in 1924, it being designed for and ordered by Lebbeus Hordern of Sydney as a replacement for the Short Shrimp then in service. A single-seat semi-cantilever monoplane of all metal construction, it was originally powered by two 696-cc 12-kw (16-hp) Blackburn Tomtit engines driving tractor propellers through extension shafts, but these were found to be lacking in power and were later replaced by two 24-kw (32-hp) Bristol Cherub III engines.

One example (G-EBKA) was built and made its first flight at Rochester in October 1924. It had a maximum speed of 103 km/h (64 mph) with the Tomtit engines and 129 km/h (80 mph) with the Cherub. However, Hordern considered it somewhat under-powered and cancelled the order, the machine going to the British Air Ministry in July 1925 (as N193) and it was based for a period at Felixstowe until scrapped in 1926.
Specifications (Cherub engines): wingspan 10.97 m (36 ft); length 7.57 m (24 ft 9 in); max speed 129 km/h (80 mph); endurance 2 hours.

Photograph: Short Cockle G-EBKA during test flying in the United Kingdom (A J Jackson collection)

Further information:

Information on this aircraft is currently limited. The Author welcomes any further specifications and/or details to update the site.