-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Information from
Internet Encyclopedia
The Handley Page Type O was a
biplane bomber used by Britain during the First World War. When built, the Type
O was the largest aircraft that had been built in the UK and one of the largest
in the world. There were two main variants, the Handley Page O/100 (H.P.11) and
the Handley Page O/400 (H.P.12).
The aircraft were used in France
for tactical night attacks on targets in German-occupied France and Belgium and
for strategic bombing of industrial and transport targets in the Rhineland.
Some aircraft were temporarily diverted to anti-submarine reconnaissance and
bombing in the Tees estuary in 1917 and two aircraft operated in the eastern
Mediterranean. The impression made by the Type O was such that for many years
after the war any large aircraft came to be called a "Handley Page"
in Britain and entered the dictionary as such.
The design of the series of
aircraft began shortly after the outbreak of the First World War after meetings
between Captain Murray Sueter, the director of the Air Department of the Royal
Navy, and Frederick Handley Page. Sueter requested "a bloody paralyser of
an aircraft" for long-range bombing. The phrase was originated by
Commander Charles Rumney Samson, who had recently returned from the front.[4]
Coastal patrol adaptations of the abortive Handley Page L/200, M/200 and MS/200
designs were initially discussed but Sueter's technical advisor, Harris Booth,
favoured a large seaplane for coastal patrol and dockyard defence that would
also be capable of bombing the German High Seas Fleet at its base in Kiel. A
prototype (AD Seaplane Type 1000) had already been commissioned from J. Samuel
White & Co. of Cowes.
Handley Page suggested building
a land-based aircraft of similar size, and a specification was drawn up around
his suggestions and formally issued on 28 December 1914 for four prototypes. It
called for a large biplane to be powered by two 150 hp (110 kW) Sunbeam
engines, which was required to fit in a 75 ft × 75 ft (23 m × 23 m) shed and
would therefore have folding wings. It was to carry six 100 lb (45 kg) bombs
and have armour plating to protect crew and engines from rifle-fire from the
ground. The crew of two were to be enclosed in a glazed cockpit and the only
defensive armament planned was a rifle to be fired by the observer/engineer.
The name O/100 came from the proposed wingspan of the aircraft prefixed by an
'O', since Handley Page gave their types alphabetical type letters. The
outline design was approved on 4 February 1915, with 250 hp (190 kW)
Rolls-Royce Eagle engines and on 9 February the contract was amended to include
a further eight aircraft.
The O/100 was an unequal-span
three-bay biplane, with the overhanging part of the upper wing braced by
kingposts, a rectangular section fuselage and a biplane tail with twin balanced
rudders, between the horizontal surfaces. Balanced ailerons were fitted to the
upper wing only and extended beyond the wing trailing edge. The engines drove
four-bladed propellers, rotating in opposite directions to cancel the torque and
were enclosed in armoured nacelles, mounted between the wings on tubular steel
struts. The nacelles had a long tapered fairing to reduce drag; to clear the
wing rigging wires when the wings were folded, the rear portions of the
fairings were hinged to fold inward. Construction of the fuselage and flying
surfaces was primarily of spruce, with much reduction in weight by extensive
use of hollow section members.
The four prototypes and first
production batch of six aircraft were built at Cricklewood, with the first
aircraft delivered by road to Hendon on 9 December 1915. The first flight of
the prototype, serial number 1455, was made at Hendon on 17 December, when a
short straight flight was made, the aircraft taking off without trouble at 50
mph (80 km/h). A second flight was made the following day, when it was found
that the aircraft would not fly faster than about 55 mph (89 km/h). This was
blamed on the drag caused by large honeycomb radiators, which were changed to
tube radiators mounted on either side of the engine nacelles. A third flight on
31 December revealed a number of control problems, the ailerons and elevators
were effective but heavy, partly due to excessive friction in the control
circuit and the rudders were seriously overbalanced.[9] After minor modifications,
the aircraft was flown to RNAS Eastchurch, where full-speed trials were made.
On reaching 70 mph (110 km/h), the tail unit began to vibrate and twist
violently; the pilot immediately landed and an inspection showed severe damage
to the rear fuselage structure. Reinforcement failed to cure the problem, the
enclosed cockpit and most of the armour plating were also removed. The second
prototype, 1456, was completed in April 1916 and had an open cockpit in a
longer nose with room for a gunner's position. To save weight, most of the
armour plating was deleted and was the arrangement for later production of the
machine.
After a series of proving
flights at Hendon, 1456 was accepted by the RNAS and was flown to Manston for
further trials. These revealed that despite a reduced balance area on the
elevators, there was still a tail oscillation problem. A lack of directional
stability caused by the increased forward side area was partly cured by adding
a fixed fin but to find the cause of the tail oscillation, the Admiralty called
in Frederick Lanchester from the National Physics Laboratory. Lanchester agreed
that simple structural weakness was not the root of the problem and that
resonance of the fuselage was the probable cause. Static tests on the third
prototype, 1457, which had a redesigned, stiffer, fuselage structure showed
nothing. This aircraft had an amidships crew position and on 26 June,
Lanchester was flown as an observer. The tail oscillations started at 80 mph
(130 km/h); Lanchester observed that the tail was twisting by 15° to either
side and deduced that the cause was asymmetric movement of the right and left
halves of the elevators, which were not rigidly linked but connected by long
control cables. He recommended that the halves of the elevators be connected,
the elevator balances removed and further bracing added between the lower
longerons and the lower tailplane spar, measures which were wholly successful.
The fourth prototype, 1458, was
completed with the same fuselage structure as 1456 and provision for armament,
with a Scarff ring mounting in the nose, a pair of post mountings in the mid
position and a gun mounting in the rear fuselage. This was also the first O/100
to be fitted with 320 hp (240 kW) Eagle engines. After completing acceptance
trials, 1456 and 1457 were retained at Manston to form a Handley Page training
flight. The first prototype was rebuilt to production standard and 1458 was
used to test a new nacelle design, which was un-armoured, had an enlarged fuel
tank and a shorter fairing obviating the need for the tip to fold. The new
nacelle design was used on all aircraft built after the initial batch of
twelve. From 1461, an additional 130 imp gal (590 L) fuel tank was fitted in
the fuselage above the bomb floor. A total of 46 O/100s were built before being
superseded by the Type O/400.
The most significant difference
between the two types was the use of 360 horsepower (270 kW) Eagle VIII engines
(£1,622/10/- [£1,622.50] each). Unlike the earlier version, this engine was
not built in right-handed and left-handed versions, because production of
engines of both types for engine type approval had been difficult; wind tunnel
tests at the NPL established that the counter-rotating propellers were a cause
of the directional instability of the O/100. It was realised that only one
version was necessary, simplifying production and maintenance; the torque
effect was overcome by offsetting the fin slightly. The O/400 had a
strengthened fuselage, an increased bomb load, the nacelle tanks were removed
and the fuel was carried in two 130 imp gal (590 L) fuselage tanks, supplying a
pair of 15 imp gal (68 L) gravity tanks. The new nacelles were smaller and had
simplified supporting struts; the reduction of drag producing an improvement in
maximum speed and altitude. The revised nacelle was tested in 3188, which in
1917 was flown at Martlesham Heath with a variety of engine installations. An
initial order for 100 of the revised design, with Sunbeam Maori or Eagle
engines, was placed on 14 August but cancelled shortly afterwards. Twelve sets
of Cricklewood-built components were transferred to the Royal Aircraft Factory,
where they were assembled into the first production O/400s.[14] More than 400
were supplied before the Armistice at a price of £6,000 each. Another 107
were licence-built in the US by the Standard Aircraft Corporation (out of 1,500
ordered by the air corps). Forty-six out of an order for fifty were built by
Clayton & Shuttleworth in Lincoln.
Flanders
The first twenty O/100s deployed
to France were received by 7 Squadron and 7A Squadron of the 5th Wing RNAS at
Dunkirk in late 1916.[17] At first the O/100s were used for daylight attacks
over the North Sea, damaging a German destroyer on 23 April 1917, but the loss
of an aircraft to fighter attack two days later resulted in a switch to night
operations, usually by single aircraft against German-occupied Belgian ports,
railway targets and airfields. On the night of 16/17 August 14 O/100s attacked
Thourout railway station and dropped 9 long tons (9.1 t) of bombs.[18] O/100s
from Coudekerque were diverted to anti-U-boat patrols off the mouth of the
River Tees in September 1917. The Handley Page crews sighted eleven U-boats and
attacked seven with bombs, but without sinking any, although the deterrent
effect drastically reduced U-boat operations in the area.
Dardanelles
As part of the Dardanelles
campaign, O/100 3124 was flown 2,000 mi (3,200 km) from England to Mudros on
the Greek island of Lemnos in the eastern Mediterranean.[20] Flown by
Lieutenant Ross Smith, it was used for night attacks against the forces of the
Ottoman Empire, and supplying the small number of aircraft flying in support of
the Arab insurgency directed by T.E. Larwence. On the night of 3/4 July 1917,
the Handley Page, flown by Squadron Commander Kenneth Savory and four other
crew, tried to attack Galata air base but a hot southerly wind caused the
engines to overheat; some of the bombs were jettisoned and the crew turned
back, dropping the rest of the bombs on an army camp near Bulair. On 8/9 July
1917, Savory tried to fly to Constantinople but a headwind slowed the aircraft
and after 3 1⁄2 hours the attempt was abandoned and targets of opportunity
were bombed on the way back. The next night, Savory reached Constantinople
before midnight and from 800 ft (240 m) attacked the battlecruiser SMS Goeben
at anchor in Constantinople, with eight 112 lb (51 kg) bombs and hit and sank
an Ottoman S138-class destroyer Yâdigâr-ý-Millet (aka Jadhigar-i-Millet).[21][22]
The crew flew on, bombed SS General, thought to be the German HQ, and dropped
two bombs on the Ottoman War Office building, returning to Mudros at 3:40 a.m.
On 6 August the aircraft was
used to bomb warehouses and ships in the harbour of Pandera on the south shore
of the Marmara and was then used on anti-submarine patrols until 2 September,
when it was sent to bomb Adrianopolis. En route the crew dropped two bombs on a
submarine as it dived, before dropping two more on Kuleli Burgas and then the
rest on the Adrianopolis railway station and buildings. On 30 September, (flown
by John Alcock), the bomber was used to raid railway stations near
Constantinople and Haidar Pasha but it was forced to ditch in the Gulf of
Xeros, after one engine failed. The crew floated with the aircraft for two
hours and fired Very lights but were not seen by British destroyers. They then
swam for an hour to land on the Gallipoli peninsula, where they were taken
prisoner.[24] Another Handley Page was flown from England to reinforce the
Palestine Brigade and served with 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps. In
September 1918, the bomber was used to supply Colonel T. E. Lawrence and the
Arabs.
Independent Force
On the night of 16/17 March
1918, a Handley Page of the Luxeuil Wing was sent to bomb a railway junction at
Moulins-lès-Metz and in April, single aircraft were sent to bomb, except for
raids on a railway junction at Armaville on 5/6 April and a steelworks at Hagendingen
and the Chambley airfield on 14/15 April. The Luxeuil Wing was disbanded in May
to equip 10 Squadron RNAS, for operations on the Western Front during the
German Spring Offensive. In September 1918, the 41st Wing was formed with the
Handley Pages of A Squadron RNAS (Squadron Commander K. S. Savory), formed at
Manston for night bombing and flown to Ochey in October. (A Squadron was later
called 16 Squadron RNAS, then from 1 April 1918, 216 Squadron RAF.)[26] On 9
August, 97 Squadron arrived in France and ten days later, 215 Squadron was
transferred, then on 31 August 115 Squadron arrived and 100 Squadron was
re-equipped with Handley Pages by September. Operations began with 97 Squadron
on 19 August and 215 Squadron three nights later. Cologne railway station was
bombed by two 216 Squadron aircraft on 21/22 August and six attacks were made
on the German chemical industry, the raid on 25 August by two 215 Squadron
aircraft on the works at Mannheim being particularly accurate. Five aircraft of
216 Squadron attacked on 2/3 September, one bomb causing M400,000 worth of
damage and the first attack by 115 Squadron was made on 16/17 September, when
seven Handley Pages were lost to engine-trouble or anti-aircraft fire.
The improved O/400 had started
to enter service in April 1918, gradually allowing the re-equipment of more
squadrons. The O/400s could carry new 1,650-pound (750 kg) bombs, which were
aimed with the Drift Sight Mk 1A bombsight; each raid was conducted by up to
forty O/400s. On the night of 21/22 October, four Handley Pages attacked
Kaiserslautern with heavy bombs and four dropped incendiaries; three heavy
bombers and two incendiary bombers caused M500,000 of damage and Kaiserslautern
was bombed again on 23/24 October, along with Coblenz, Mannheim and Wiesbaden.
The bombers again were diverted to army support during the month and on the
night of 9/10 October, 97, 215 and 216 Squadrons bombed Metz, one bomb hitting
a powder store and rocked the town, the damage being estimated by the Germans to
have been worth M1,000,000. Bombing was curtailed during the last days of the
war by bad weather but several aerodromes were attacked, particularly that at
Morhange.
Post-1918
After the war, O/400s remained
in squadron service until replaced by the Vickers Vimy toward the end of 1919.
War-surplus aircraft were converted for civilian use in the UK and nine were
used by Handley Page Transport.[30] Eight O/400s were fitted with passenger
accommodation and operated by the 86 (Communication) Wing, formed at Hendon to
provide quick transport between London and Paris for officials engaged in the
negotiation of the Treaty of Versailles. Two were finished in silver dope,
named Great Britain and Silver Star and fitted as VIP transports, while the
others, seating eight, retained their dark green finish.
Six aircraft were assembled for
sale to the Republic of China as O/7s, principally for use as transports. The O/7s were delivered to China and re-assembled at Nanyuan near Beijing. The
aircraft flew their first service, carrying airmail and passengers, between
Beijing and Tientsin on 7 May 1920. These services were disrupted by the
outbreak of civil war, with the aircraft being taken over by various warlords.