Short Type 166

The Short Type 166 was a British two-seat reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo-carrying folder seaplane of the 1910s, designed by Short Brothers to operate from the carrier Ark Royal. Six aircraft, known inside Shorts as the Type A, were ordered before the First World War with Admiralty serials 161 to 166, and the type took its name from the last serial, though it is sometimes called the Short S.90 after the maker number of the first. It was slightly larger than the Type 136 and was designed from the start to carry a torpedo, but never used one. The two-bay biplane sat on twin wooden pontoon floats with a tail float and small stabilising floats under the lower wingtips, and a nose-mounted 200 hp Salmson radial engine. A further 20 were assembled by Westland at Yeovil without torpedo provision, carrying three 112 lb bombs and radio. Operators were the Royal Naval Air Service and the Hellenic Navy.