Short Type 184
The Short Type 184 was a British two-seat reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo carrying 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 at Short Brothers, Rochester, England.
The first aircraft flew in early 1915 and more than 900 aircraft were built by nine 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 Cuxhaven Raid and as far afield as Mesopotamia, and continued in service into the 1920s.
The observer in Flight Commander Charles H. K. Edmonds' S.184 which took part in the Cuxhaven Raid was Lt. Robert Erskine Childers DSC, the author of The Riddle of the Sands.[3], who was later shot by an Irish Free State firing squad 24 November 1922.[4]
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."[5]
Operators
- Canada
- Estonia
- Greece
- United Kingdom
Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
Performance
- 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 British Aircraft Directory)
- Short Brothers, Rochester (117)
- Brush Electrical Engineering Co. Ltd. (150)
- Robey & Co. Ltd.[6] (208)
- J Samuel White & Co. Ltd. (110)
- Frederick Sage & Co. Ltd. (82)
- S E Saunders Limited (80)
- Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company (62)
- Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd. (30)
- Mann, Egerton & Co. Ltd. (12)
- Westland Aircraft Works Ltd. (12)
References
- ^ British Aircraft Directory Short 184
- ^ 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] - ^ "Archives of RAF history (not official RAF site)". M B Barrass.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "The Riddle of the Sands". Eldritch Press (public domain publisher).
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Milestones of Flight website: British Military Aviation in 1916 - Part 1". RAF Museum.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ [The Robey Trust]
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