The Sopwith Aviation Company was a British aircraft manufacturer that designed and produced planes primarily for the British Royal Naval Air Service, the Royal Flying Corps and later the Royal Air Force during the First World War. Their most famous creation was the Sopwith Camel. The company also supplied planes to the French, Belgian, and American air services during the war. In April 1919, the company was renamed as the Sopwith Aviation & Engineering Company Limited. However, their attempt to diversify into motorcycle manufacturing led to their voluntary liquidation in September 1920. The patents and assets were acquired by a new company, H.G. Hawker Engineering, and the Sopwith name disappeared from the aviation industry.
The Sopwith Aviation Company was founded in 1912 by Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith, a wealthy sportsman with interests in aviation, yachting, and motor-racing. Their first factory premises opened in December of that year in South West London. In 1913, the company collaborated with S. E. Saunders boatyard to produce an early flying boat known as the “Bat Boat.” During the First World War, the company made over 16,000 aircraft, although many were built by subcontractors. Towards the end of the war, the company leased National Aircraft Factory No.2 and greatly increased production of fighter planes. By the Armistice, they had grown from 200 employees to 6,000.
After the war, the company attempted to produce aircraft for the civil market based on their wartime types, but the availability of war-surplus aircraft at lower prices made this venture unprofitable. Their attempt to diversify into motorcycle manufacturing also ended in failure, leading to their closure in 1920.