Short Type 184 The Short Admiralty Type 184 , often called the Short 225 after the power rating of the engine first fitted , was a British two - seat reconnaissance , bombing and torpedo carrying folding - wing seaplane designed by Horace Short of Short Brothers . It was first flown in 1915 and remained in service until after the armistice in 1918 . A Short 184 was the first aircraft to sink a ship using a torpedo , and another was the only British aircraft to take part in the Battle of Jutland . Design and development . Torpedo - dropping trials had been undertaken using a Gnome powered Short Admiralty Type 166 but this had proved insufficiently powerful , and so in September 1914 a new specification was formulated for an aircraft to be powered by the Sunbeam Mohawk engine currently being developed . Design proposals were invited from Sopwith , J . Samuel White and Short Brothers . Horace Short ' s response when the requirements were explained him by Murray Sueter , the director of the naval air department , was to say " Well , if you particularly want this done , I will produce a seaplane that will satisfy you " , and on the strength of this assurance two prototypes were ordered , for which serial nos . 184 and 185 were reserved , the resultant type so becoming the Type 184 . Similar in basic design to earlier Short floatplane s built for the Navy , the Type 184 was an equal - span three - bay tractor configuration biplane . The fuselage was a conventional wire - braced wooden box - girder , with spruce longerons spindled out to reduce weight and fittings of manganese steel . The top surface of the fuselage was faired to a semi - circular section . The engine was mounted on bearers fixed to pressed steel transverse frames mounted between the longerons and the large rectangular radiator was mounted above and behind the engine , directly in front of the upper wing . The lower wings were parallel - chord , while the upper wings increased in chord from the centre section to the wingtips . The two prototype aircraft had ailerons on the upper wing only . These were single - acting , relying on the airflow to maintain them in a neutral position unless pulled downwards by using the flight controls . The interplane struts were steel tubing with wood fairings to produce a streamline section . The wings could be swung out from the pilot ' s position , by means of a hand - winch in the cockpit , locking being accomplished by means of a splined and threaded spigot in the forward spar , locked and unlocked by a quarter - turn in a similar manner to the breech of a field - gun . In the folded position the wings were supported by a transverse shaft mounted in front of the tailplane : this was rotated by a lever in the cockpit so that its upturned ends engaged with slots on the interplane struts in order to lock the wings in the folded position . The twin unstepped main floats were carried by a two struts attached to the front cross - tube and two pairs of struts attached to the rear cross - tube , both cross - tubes being arched in the middle to accommodate the torpedo crutches . The wooden tail float incorporated a small water - rudder actuated by torque tubes connected to the main rudder , and cylindrical air - bags were fitted beneath the lower wing - tips . The aircraft was fitted with a radio transmitter and receiver , which was powered by a wind - driven generator mounted on a hinged arm so that it could be folded back when not being used , and other equipment carried included a basket of carrier pigeon s , intended to be used as a back - up for the radio in the event of forced landings . Initial trials revealed a lack of longitudinal control , and the single - acting ailerons caused problems when taxying downwind , so the two prototype were fitted with lengths of bungee cord attached to control horns on the upper aileron surface to return the aileron to the neutral position . This only produced a marginal improvement , so ailerons were then added to the lower wings , these being fitted to all the aircraft built apart from the two prototypes . These were linked by cables to the upper ailerons , and the bungee cord to return the ailerons was rigged between the top of the rear interplane struts and the lower ailerons . Operational history . The first aircraft flew in early 1915 . An order for ten more aircraft had already been placed , and 936 aircraft were built by ten different British aircraft companies , making it the most successful of Shorts ' pre - World War II aircraft . The two prototype aircraft were embarked upon HMS " Ben - my Chree " , which sailed for the Aegean on 21 March 1915 to take part in the Gallipoli campaign . On 12 August 1915 one of these , piloted by Flight Commander Charles Edmonds , was the first aircraft in the world to attack an enemy ship with an air - launched torpedo . However , the ship had already been crippled by a torpedo fired by the British submarine E14 . However , on 17 August 1915 , another Turkish ship was sunk by a torpedo of whose origin there was no doubt . On this occasion Flight Commander Edmonds torpedoed a Turkish transport ship a few miles north of the Dardanelles . His formation colleague , Flt Lt 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 , sinking the tug . Without the weight of the torpedo Dacre was able to take off and return to the " Ben - My - Chree " . The performance of the Type 184 in the climatic conditions of the Mediterranean was marginal , it being necessary to fly without an observer and carry a limited amount of fuel , and the 184 was therefore used either as a bomber , carrying two 112 lb bombs , or for reconnaissance and gunnery observation . A Short 184 , aircraft number 8359 , was the only British aircraft to take part in the Battle of Jutland . Flown by Flt Lt Frederick Rutland ( who became known afterwards as " Rutland of Jutland " ) with Assistant Paymaster G . S . Trewin as observer , the aircraft was launched from HMS " Engadine at about 3 . 08 p . m . : flying at about due to low visibility , they spotted four cruiser s of the German fleet , reporting their presence back to the " Engadine " at about 3 . 30 . The aircraft was presented to the Imperial War Museum in 1917 , where it was damaged in a German air raid during the blitz . The unrestored forward section of the fuselage is now an exhibit in the Fleet Air Arm Museum . The aircraft served in most theatres of the war . Five were used in Mesopotamia , where they were flown from the River Tigris at [ Ora ] , and in April 1916 they were used to drop supplies to the besieged garrison at Kut al Amara . The principal use of the 184 was its use in anti - submarine patrol work . Although a substantial number of submarines were spotted and attacked , no confirmed sinkings were made . The type was used for a number of experiments by the Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot . 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 . The 184 was also used for trials of the Davis gun in April 1916 The Type 184 was still in production at the end of the war , and in December 1918 315 remained in service . After the end of the war they were mainly used for spotting mine s , and remained in service at least until the end of 1920 . Following the Geddes Report all were struck off charge by the end of 1922 . Post - war , five aircraft were adapted to seat four passengers and used for pleasure flights : two being used by the Eastbourne Aviation Co . , two by the Seaplane and Pleasure Trip Co . , and one by Manchester Airways . In 2010 , the Estonian Maritime Museum announced it had ordered a non - flying reproduction of the plane to be built for fitting into one of their historic seaplane hangars . The main designer was killed in a glider crash on the 11th of July of the same year . However , a group of enthusiasts took over the build and the reproduction project was completed in spring 2012 . The replica is now displayed in collection of the museum and can be seen in Tallinn . A single example of the Short Type 184 was acquired by the Imperial Japanese Navy and re - designated Yokosuka Navy Short Reconnaissance Seaplane , being used as an engine test - bed . Variants . The Short 184 was later fitted with a variety of different engines , including the Sunbeam Gurkha , the Sunbeam Maori and the Renault .