the outbreak of the First World War, Tabloids were used as fast scouts. Some naval aircraft were armed with a Lewis gun on the top wing, firing over the propeller arc. One other aircraft used a Lewis gun firing through the propeller arc with deflector wedges mounted on the propeller blades, but the Tabloid was also used as a bomber, when on 22 September 1914 Tabloids mounted the first raid by British aircraft on German soil; and in their most famous mission two RNAS Tabloids flying from Antwerp on 8 October 1914 attacked the German Zeppelin sheds at Cologne and Düsseldorf. The Cologne target was not located, the railway station being bombed instead, but the Zeppelin shed at Düsseldorf was struck by two bombs dropped from and Zeppelin Z IX destroyed. During 1915 attempts were made to use Schneiders to intercept Zeppelins over the North Sea, launching them from seaplane carriers including and , but these efforts were largely unsuccessful due to heavy seas either damaging the floats or making takeoff impossible entirely. On 6 August 1915 a Schneider took off from the aircraft carrier using a jettisonable dolly. A single Sopwith Schneider fighter seaplane was acquired by Captain Shiro Yamauchi, during an inspection tour of England, during 1915. While in Imperial Japanese Navy service it was designated Yokosuka Navy Ha-go Small Seaplane. Variants Tabloid Original wheeled version, two seater, 6 built Single-seater Tabloid Single-seat version for RFC and RNAS, 32+ built 1914 Schneider Racer Single-seater Tabloid equipped with floats, 1 or 2 built Schneider Float equipped, production version of Schneider Racer for RNAS, 133 built Gordon Bennett Racer Variant with the fuselage partially faired to a circular section, a smaller fin and rudder, conventional engine cowling and V strut undercarriage without skids. Maximum speed Taken into service by the Admiralty on the outbreak of war as Nos. 1214 and 1215. Two built. Lebed VII Unlicensed copy of the design built by Lebed in Russia as a military reconnaissance aircraft Lebed VIII As Lebed VII but with revised undercarriage Yokosuka Navy Ha-go Small Seaplane A single Sopwith Schneider fighter seaplane operated by the IJN Operators Royal Flying Corps No. 3 Squadron RFC Royal Naval Air Service Royal Air Force No. 201 Squadron RAF Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service Imperial Russian Navy Specifications (Production Schneider) See also References Citations Notes Bibliography Bruce, J.M. "The Sopwith Tabloid, Schneider and Baby: Historic Military