Sopwith Special torpedo seaplane Type C

The Sopwith Special torpedo seaplane Type C was the first British aircraft designed to drop torpedoes. It grew out of an Admiralty order of 1913 and a taxiing-only mock-up called the Type TT, and the flying aircraft was delivered to RNAS Calshot on 1 July 1914. It was a four-bay biplane floatplane with a 200 horsepower Salmson radial engine driving the propeller through a long shaft, tandem cockpits and strut-mounted main floats. It first flew in July 1914 with only the pilot aboard, but it could not lift its design load, went back to Sopwith for wing changes, and was still unfit for torpedo work. Converted to carry bombs in November, it was being broken up by January 1915.