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A wooden
frame with fabric skinning, armed with a
single 7,7 mm synchronized machine gun,
and fitted in most cases with a 80 hp
Rhône 9C engine. The Pup was primarily
built by Sopwith, Standard Motor,
Whitehead Aircraft and about 11 Pup's
came from the Beardmore factory.
The
Sopwith Pup was ordered by the Admiralty
from Sopwith and Beardmore, and by the
War Office from Standard Motor and
Whitehead Aircraft. The first Pup's
entered service in September 1916, and
in the late summer of 1917 the Pup
retired from frontline duties to be
assigned to Home Defence units to
improve the combat strength against the
German Gotha bombers that were attacking
the UK. For this duty the Pup's were
fitted with a Gnome Monosoupape engine
with 100 hp.
The Pup
was also used as a ship based fighter on
three carriers: HMS Campania, Furious
and Manxman it entered service on the
carriers early 1917.
The Pup
was in production until 1918, a total of
1.770 Pup's were built by four
companies. |
