Thomas Sopwith

Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith, CBE, Hon FRAeS (January 18 1888–January 27 1989) was an English aviation pioneer and a celebrated yachtsman.

Early life

Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith was born in Kensington, London. He was the eighth child and only son of a civil engineer. He was educated at Cottesmore School in Hove and at Seafield Park engineering college in Hill Head.

In his youth, he was an expert ice skater and played in goal during Princes Ice Hockey Club's 1908 match with C. P. P. Paris and during the 1909–10 season. [cite web | publisher = European Hockey.Net | url = http://www.eurohockey.net/players/show_player.cgi?serial=98083 | title = Thomas Sopwith - player profile and career stats | accessdate = 2007-11-29 ] He also represented the Great Britain national ice hockey team which won the gold medal at the first ever European Championships in 1910. [cite web | publisher = Ice Hockey Journalists UK | url = http://www.ihjuk.co.uk/british_rosters/1910.htm | title = Great Britain Roster 1910 | accessdate = 2007-11-29 ]

Career in aviation

Sopwith became interested in flying after seeing John Moisant flying the first cross-Channel passenger flight. His first flight was with Gustave Blondeau in a Farman at Brooklands. He soon taught himself to fly on a British Avis monoplane and took to the air on his own for the first time on October 22 1910. Unfortunately he crashed after travelling about 300 yards (275 m). He soon improved and on November 22 was awarded Royal Aero Club Aviation Certificate No. 31.

On December 18 1910, Sopwith won a £4,000 prize for the longest flight from England to the Continent in a British built aeroplane. He flew 169 miles (272 km) in 3 hours 40 minutes. He used the winnings to set up the Sopwith School of Flying at Brooklands.

In June 1912 Sopwith with Fred Sigrist and others set up The Sopwith Aviation Company. The company produced key British World War I aircraft, most famously the Sopwith Camel. Sopwith was awarded the CBE in 1918.

Bankrupted after the war by the punitive anti-profiteering taxes, he re-entered the business a few years later with a new firm named after his chief engineer and test pilot, Harry Hawker. Sopwith was chairman of the new firm, Hawker Aircraft.

After the nationalization of what was by then Hawker Siddeley, he continued to work as a consultant as late as 1980.

He became a Knight Bachelor in 1953.

His 100th birthday was marked by a flypast of military aircraft over his home. He died in Hampshire on January 27, 1989, aged 101. His grave and that of his wife Phyllis Brodie Sopwith can be found in the grounds of the 11th Century All Saints Church at Little Somborne near Winchester.

His authorized biography is "Pure Luck" by Alan Bramson, with a foreword by the Prince of Wales (ISBN 1-85260-263-5).

Sir Thomas was interviewed on 8 November 1978 by the art historian Anna Malinovska. The interview is reproduced in "Voices in Flight" (Pen & Sword Books, 2006)

Yachting

Sopwith challenged the America's Cup with his J-class yachts, "Endeavour" in 1934, and "Endeavour II" in 1937. Both yachts were designed by Charles E. Nicholson. Sopwith funded, organized and helmed the yachts. He did not win the Cup but he became a Cup legend by nearly winning it in 1934. He was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1995.

In 1927 Sopwith commissioned yacht builders Camper and Nicholsons to build a luxury motor yacht he named "Vita". She was sold in 1929 to Sir John Shelley-Rolls who re-named her "Alastor". [ [http://www.irishwrecksonline.net/details/Alastor93.htm Irish Wrecks On-Line - Alastor MY (No. 93) ] ] During World War II the Royal Navy commandeered her to ferry provisions to Navy vessels moored at the entrance to Strangford Lough. In 1946 a fire gutted her and she sank in Ringhaddy Sound at the back of Strangford Lough. [ [http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?id=1294&sc=&ac=d Divernet | Wreck Tour: 80, The Alastor ] ]

Footnotes

External links

*http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/sopwith.html
* [http://www.johnwmills2.plus.com/PORTRAIT%20PAGES/Tommy%20Sopwith.htm Portrait Sculpture of Thomas Sopwith]
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.09634 Library of Congress Picture of Tom Sopwith]
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.09259 Library of Congress Picture of Tom Sopwith on Airplane]