Short Type 184
| Type 184 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Scout |
| Manufacturer | Short Brothers |
| Designed by | Horace Short |
| Maiden flight | 1915 |
| Introduced | 1915 |
| Retired | 1920s |
| Primary users | Royal Naval Air Service Royal Flying Corps Hellenic Air Force Estonian Air Force |
| Number built | 936 |
| Variants | Mann Egerton Type B |
The Short Type 184 was a British two-seat reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo carrying folder seaplane designed by Short Brothers.
History
An urgent requirement by the British Admiralty for a torpedo-carrying seaplane was met by a design by Horace Short of Short Brothers, Rochester, England.
The first aircraft flew in early 1915 and 936 aircraft were built by ten different British aircraft companies.[1], making it the most successful of Shorts' pre-World War II aircraft.
In August 1915 a Short 184 of piloted by Flight Commander Charles H. K. Edmonds from HMS Ben-my-Chree operating in the Aegean became the first aircraft in the world to attack an enemy ship with an air-launched torpedo.[2] Despite early successes in sinking ships the 184s were mainly used for Bombing and Reconnaissance. A Short 184 was the only aircraft to take part in the Battle of Jutland.
A landplane version of the S.184 was also sold to the Royal Flying Corps as the Short Bomber.
The aircraft served in most theatres of war, e.g. in the Dardanelles campaign and as far afield as Mesopotamia, and continued in service into the 1920s.
On 9 May 1916 a Short 184 seaplane, "using a bombsight developed by Bourdillon and Tizard, hit a target with a 500 pound bomb from a height of 4,000 feet."[3]
Operators
- Canada
- Estonia
- Greece
- United Kingdom
- Royal Naval Air Service
- Royal Flying Corps
- Royal Air Force
- No. 202 Squadron RAF (1920-1921)
- No. 219 Squadron RAF (1918-1920)
- No. 229 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 230 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 233 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 234 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 235 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 237 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 238 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 239 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 240 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 241 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 242 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 243 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 245 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 246 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 248 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 249 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 253 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 263 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 264 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 266 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 267 Squadron RAF (1918-1921)
- No. 268 Squadron RAF (1918-1919)
- No. 270 Squadron RAF (1919-1919)
- No. 271 Squadron RAF (1918-1918)
Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 40 ft 7 in (12.38 m)
- Wingspan: 63 ft 6in (19.36 m)
- Height: 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
- Wing area: 688 ft² (63.9 m²)
- Empty weight: 3,703 lb (1680 kg)
- Loaded weight: lb (kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 5,363 lb (2,433 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Sunbeam Maori , 260 hp (194 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 88 mph (142 km/h)
- Service ceiling: 9,000 ft (2,745 m)
- Endurance: 2¾ hrs
Armament
- One Lewis gun in rear cockpit
- 1 14-inch (356 mm) torpedo or up to 520 lb (236 kg) of bombs
Manufacturers
(from Barnes & James, p. 541)
- Short Brothers, Rochester (117)
- Brush Electrical Engineering Co. Ltd. (190)
- Mann, Egerton & Co. Ltd. (22)
- Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company (62)
- Robey & Co. Ltd.[4] (256)
- Frederick Sage & Co. Ltd. (72)
- S E Saunders Limited (80)
- Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd. (15)
- Westland Aircraft Works Ltd. (12)
- J. Samuel White (110)
References
- ^ Barnes and James, pp. 527, 541
- ^ From the Guinness Book of Air Facts and Feats (3rd edition, 1977): "The
first air attack using a torpedo dropped by an aeroplane was carried out by Flight Commander
Charles H. K. Edmonds, flying a Short 184 seaplane from HMS
Ben-My-Chree on 12 August 1915, against a 5,000 ton
(5,080 tonne) Turkish supply ship in the Sea of Marmara. Although the enemy ship was hit
and sunk, the captain of a British submarine claimed to have fired a torpedo simultaneously and sunk the ship. It was further
stated that the British submarine E14 had attacked and immobilised the ship four days earlier.
However, on 17 August 1915 another Turkish ship was sunk by a torpedo of whose origin there can be no doubt. On this occasion Flight Commander C H Edmonds, flying a Short 184, torpedoed a Turkish steamer a few miles north of the Dardanelles. His formation colleague, Flight Lieutenant G B Dacre, was forced to land on the water owing to engine trouble but, seeing an enemy tug close by, taxied up to it and released his torpedo. The tug blew up and sank. Thereafter Dacre was able to take off and return to the Ben-My-Chree[Mention of this and other WW I actions at www.theaerodrome.com forum archives] - ^ Milestones of Flight website: British Military Aviation in 1916 - Part 1. RAF Museum.
- ^ The Robey Trust
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