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Camel - Aircraft Profile - Sopwith : Camel

Camel

Manufacturer : Sopwith
Number Built : 5714
Production Began : 1916
Retired :
Type : Fighter

SOPWITH CAMEL: was the most successful fighter of World War one. Claiming almost 3,000 air victories. The prototype of the Sopwith camel first flew in December 1916, and its first combat mission began in June 1917. joined 4 squadron RNAS based near Dunkirk. The first Royal Flying Corp squadron to receive the aircraft was no. 70 squadron. The Sopwith camel was the first designed fighter to have two forward firing machine guns. Its design gave it amazing maneuverability and aerobatic qualities. and was perfectly suited for aerial dog fighting. Squadron after squadron was re equipped with the camel and by the end of February 1918 13 squadrons were fully operational with the aircraft along the western front. Also used on the Italian Front with 3 squadrons equipped. This figure increased with a total of 19 squadrons equipped on the western front by August 1918. This included two squadrons no. 151 and 152 for night fighter duties. in June 1918. There was also a naval version of the Sopwith camel. the 2F.1s which gradually replaced the Sopwith Pup and other naval aircraft. The Naval version most memorable fete was done by Lt S D Culley who took off from a towed wood platform and destroyed the Zeppelin L.53 on the 10th August 1918. also on the 18th July six aircraft took off from the forward deck of HMS Furious to bomb the Zeppelin base at Tondern which they successfully did destroying two Zeppelins L.54 and L.60. This was the first time carrier borne aircraft had destroyed a land base installation. In total 5597 F.1s and 317 2F.1s were ordered but there may have been 200 less built. Performance. speed: 113mph at 10,000 feet. service ceiling 19,000 feet. Armament: two fixed forward firing Vickers .303 machine Guns. or one .303 forward firing and one .303 Lewis Gun

Camel


Latest Camel Artwork Releases !
19th July 1918 - the Tondern raid, the first raid in history carried out from an aircraft carrier. Captain Dickson is shown in his Sopwith Camel 2F.1 departing HMS Furious just after 3am, and along with 5 other aircraft would successfully attack the German Zeppelin sheds at Tondern in Denmark. They destroyed two airships in their hangar, and the entire base was subsequently abandoned. 7 aircraft began the raid : one turned back with engine trouble, three landed in Denmark afterwards while another failed to return to the British fleet. Only Dickson and Captain B Smart ditched in the sea near the British ships and were recovered. For this raid, Dickson was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He later moved to HMS Revenge and HMS Queen Elizabeth then flew on HMS Argus and was a test pilot at the Royal Aircraft Establishment. In World War Two he helped to plan the Allied invasion of occupied Europe. He remained in the RAF post war, retiring in 1959 as Marshal of the Royal Air Force. He died in 1987.

Tribute to William F Dickson by Ivan Berryman.		 A Sopwith Camel of No.210 Squadron, Royal Air Force, 1918.

Homeward Bound - Sopwith Camel by David Pentland. (PC)		 On the 20th of April 1918, just one day before his death, the legendary Red Baron, Mannfred von Richthofen, claimed his final victory. His famous Flying Circus was engaged in battle by Sopwith Camels of No.3 and No.201 Squadron. Claiming his 79th victory, he had shot down Major Richard Raymond-Barker earlier in the dogfight - the British pilot being killed in the resulting crash. However, it is his 80th and final victory that is depicted here. In the centre of the painting, the Sopwith Camel of David Lewis has been brought into the firing line of von Richthofen, and is about to be sent down in flames from the sky - Lewis was fortunate to survive the encounter relatively unscathed. Meanwhile the chaos of the dogfight is all around this duel, with aircraft of both sides wheeling and diving in combat. The other pilots depicted are Weiss, Bell, Riley, Steinhauser, Mohnicke, Hamilton and Wenzl.

The Final Curtain by Ivan Berryman. (PC)		 Formidable commander of Jasta Boelcke, Karl Bolle, breaks off the attack on a 73 Sqn Sopwith Camel as its fuel tank begins to ignite - another undeniable victory in a career which saw him take an eventual 36 confirmed kills. The yellow band on the fuselage paid homage to his former unit, flanked by the black and white Prussian stripes Bolles Fokker DR.1 also sported an Oigee telescopic gunsight mounted between the guns. he survived two World Wars and died in Berlin in 1955.

Rittmeister Karl Bolle by Ivan Berryman. (PC)

Camel Artwork Collection



Last But One by Ivan Berryman.


Clipped Signature - Leonard Rochford.


Clipped Signature - Norman Macmillan.


Clipped Signature - Lord Harold Balfour of Inchyre.


Manfred Von Richthoffen (The Red Baron) by Tim Fisher.


The Sky Warriors by Anthony Saunders.


Homeward Bound - Sopwith Camel by David Pentland.


A Hand of Aces by Ivan Berryman.


Gotha G. V. by Ivan Berryman.


Rittmeister Karl Bolle by Ivan Berryman.


Leutnant d R Richard Wenzl by Ivan Berryman.


Captain Roy Brown engages the Red Baron, 21st April 1918 by Ivan Berryman.


Leutnant Wolfram von Richthofen by Ivan Berryman.


Sopwith Camel by Anthony Saunders.


Donald MacLaren by Ivan Berryman.


Gefreiter Jakob Tischner - Roland D.VIa by Ivan Berryman.


Captain Arthur Henry Cobby by Ivan Berryman.


The Final Curtain by Ivan Berryman.


Richthofens Flying Circus by Nicolas Trudgian.


Patrolling the Line by Gerald Coulson.


Knights of the Sky by Nicolas Trudgian

The Big Push - Passchendaele 1917 by Anthony Saunders.


Tribute to the RFC and RNAS by Ivan Berryman.


Tribute to William F Dickson by Ivan Berryman.

Sopwith Camel Aces of World War One.


High Patrol by Robert Taylor.


Balloon Buster by Robert Taylor.


Fast and Furious by Stan Stokes.


The Ringmaster by Stan Stokes.

Top Aces for : Camel
A list of all Aces from our database who are known to have flown this aircraft. A profile page is available by clicking the pilots name.
NameVictoriesInfo
John Inglis Gilmour39.00
Walter MacFarlane Carlaw12.00
Ernest James Salter9.00
George Henry Hackwill9.00
Francis Mansel Kitto9.00
Reginald Stuart Maxwell9.00
Henry Hollingdrake Maddocks7.00
Oliver Manners Sutton7.00
Michael Edward Gonne5.00