Sopwith Salamander The Sopwith TF . 2 Salamander was a British ground attack aircraft of the First World War designed by the Sopwith Aviation Company which first flew in April 1918 . It was a single - engined , single - seat biplane based on the Sopwith Snipe fighter but with an armoured forward fuselage to protect the pilot and fuel system from ground fire during low level operations . It was ordered in large numbers for the Royal Air Force , but the war ended before the type could enter squadron service , although two were in France in October 1918 . Design and development . In August 1917 , the British Royal Flying Corps ( RFC ) introduced the co - ordinated large - scale use of single seat fighter aircraft for low - level ground attack operations in support of the offensive at Ypres , with Airco DH . 5 s , which were unsuitable for high - altitude combat , specialising in this role . The tactic proved effective , and was repeated at the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917 by both DH . 5s and Sopwith Camel s being used in strafing attacks . While the tactic proved successful , losses of the unarmoured fighters proved to be extremely high , reaching up to 30 % per day when aircraft were deployed in such attacks . Most losses were due to ground fire , although low - flying aircraft also proved vulnerable to attacks from above by enemy fighters . On the German side , two seat fighters such as Halberstadt CL . II , originally designed as escort fighters , were also deployed in a similar ground attack mission , playing an important role in the German counter - offensive at Cambrai . While the CL - type fighters were not armoured , the Germans also introduced more specialised heavily - armoured two seat aircraft aircraft such as the Junkers J . I for contact patrol and ground attack work . As a result of the high losses sustained during stafing and after seeing the success of the new German types , the RFC instructed the Sopwith Aviation Company to modify a Camel for the close air support mission by fitting downward - firing guns and armour . The modified Camel , known as the " TF . 1 " ( for " trench fighter " ) , flew on 15 February 1918 . Two Lewis gun s were fixed to fire downwards and forwards at an angle of 45 degrees and a third gun was mounted on the upper wing . The downward - firing guns proved to be of little use , being almost impossible to aim . The TF . 1 did not go into production , but information gained in testing it was used for the Salamander design . Work on a more advanced armoured fighter , conceived as an armoured version of the Sopwith Snipe , began early in 1918 . The forward portion of the fuselage was a 605 lb ( 275 kg ) box of armour plate , forming an integral part of the aircraft structure , protecting the pilot and fuel system , with a 0 . 315 in ( 8 mm ) front plate , a 0 . 433 in ( 11 mm ) bottom plate , 0 . 236 in ( 6 mm ) side plates and rear armour consisting of a 11 - gauge and 6 - gauge plate separated by an air gap . The rear ( unarmoured ) section of the fuselage was a generally similar structure to the Snipe ’ s , but flat sided , to match the forepart . The two - bay wings and tailplane were identical in planform to those of the Snipe , but were strengthened to cope with the extra weight , while the fin and rudder were identical to the Snipe . The new aircraft used the same Bentley BR2 rotary engine as the Snipe , covered by an unarmoured cowling – the foremost armour plate forming the firewall . Originally an armament of three machine guns was planned , with two Lewis guns firing forward and downwards through the cockpit floor as in the TF . 1 , and a forward firing Vickers machine gun . This was changed to a conventional battery of two synchronised Vickers guns in front of the cockpit , as on the Snipe , before the first prototype was complete . The guns were staggered , with the starboard gun mounted a few inches forward of the port one to give more room for ammunition . Four light bombs could also be carried . The first prototype started flight tests at Brooklands aerodrome on 27 April 1918 and was sent to France for evaluation on 9 May . It was wrecked in a crash on 19 May while being flown by No . 65 Squadron when the pilot had to avoid a tender crossing the aerodrome responding to another crash . While the Salamander was generally considered promising in the ground - attack role , lateral control was recognised as poor . To rectify these problems , the Salamander underwent many of the same modifications to the tail and ailerons as the Snipe . Service history . Production was intended to be on a very large scale – an initial order for 500 aircraft was placed with Sopwith on 18 June , followed by additional orders with Wolseley Motors , the Air Navigation Co . , Glendower Aircraft , Palladium Motors and the National Aircraft Factory No . 1 . A total of 1 , 400 Salamanders were ordered . Production was slowed , however , by problems producing the armour plate , this being prone to distortion during the hardening process , and shortages of the BR . 2 engine . By the end of October 1918 only 37 Salamanders were on RAF charge , and just two of these were in France . The first Salamander equipped squadron , 157 Squadron , was due to fly out to France with 24 aircraft on 21 November , with more squadrons in the process of forming in the United Kingdom . With the Armistice , the immediate need for a specialist close support aircraft evaporated , and 157 Squadron was quickly disbanded . Production continued for several months following the Armistice , with at least 497 completed . It was discovered postwar that 70 Salamanders had been fitted with Sopwith Snipe wings instead of the stronger wings of the Salamander , rendering the aircraft unsafe , while the armoured section was subject to spontaneous distortion , misaligning the airframe and again making the aircraft dangerous . The Salamander was used in trials of various patterns of disruptive camouflage in 1919 , while some Salamanders were still in use at Heliopolis , Egypt in 1922 . One example went to America , and was still in existence at McCook Field in 1926 .